Department for Transport

Railways: North of England

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, under what terms Richard George has been engaged by his Department to (a) co-ordinate efforts between train operators and Network Rail to improve the reliability of services in the north and (b) work with industry and Transport for the North to examine the increase in services train operators committed to in December 2019; and what the timeframe is for Mr George to present his recommendations to the Department.

Andrew Jones: Richard George, an independent industry expert, has been tasked by the Secretary of State to assist with railway industry performance improvement in the region covered by Transport for the North. Although there may be discussion on the increase in services train operators are committed to in December 2019, this is not a specific remit of his work. The Terms of Reference set out the remit of his work, including that he will report to both the Department and Transport for the North. It is intended that recommendations will be provided to the Department in Spring 2019. A copy of the full Terms of Reference will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.

Roads: Safety

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 June 2018 on Road Safety, HCWS761, whether the remaining £75 million of the Safer Roads Fund will be spent on road safety or incorporated into other budgets; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: As set out in that statement, £100 million has been allocated to tackle the most dangerous roads in England; that sum fully funded all bids from the local authorities concerned. Since then the Department has announced a further £420 million for local highway maintenance and repair. Other local roads funding continues to help keep our roads safe, together with investments in targeted actions such as the recent competition to develop a mobile breathalyser.

Roads: Safety

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he is taking to improve road safety on single carriageway roads on the strategic road network; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: England's strategic road network is one of the safest in the world, The Government is providing Highways England with £17.6 billion to improve, operate, and maintain England’s motorways and main A-roads between 2015 and 2020. This investment supports the delivery of schemes to widen sections of some of our busiest single carriageway roads to dual carriageway standard. It also supports a range of measures to improve safety on remaining single carriageway roads, such as upgrades to junctions, better lay-bys, modernised roadside barriers, safer verges with improved run off protection, new technology, and improved road signing and markings. Budget 2018 announced £25.3 billion for strategic roads, funded by the National Roads Fund, between 2020 and 2025, and this will support continued work on improving road safety.

Railways: North West

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to secure skilled jobs in the rail industry for the North West of England.

Andrew Jones: Government is investing £48bn in Network Rail over 2019-2024, alongside significant projects like HS2. This significant investment in the rail network gives companies across the entire rail supply chain sector, including in the North West of England, the certainty to invest in people and skills. In 2016 DfT set ambitions through the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy to increase apprenticeships in road and rail bodies to help address skills shortages in the transport sector and ensure that the transport sector has the capacity and capability to deliver planned investment. DfT works in collaboration with employers across the sector to create quality apprenticeships through an industry body, the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT) to deliver these ambitions. Network Rail, HS2, the Rail Delivery Group, the National Skills Academy for Rail and TfL are members of STAT. So far, over 5000 apprenticeships have been created in road and rail bodies. Since 2017, the Department for Transport has used its procurement to drive apprenticeship numbers through contracts, including those within the rail industry. Manchester's Growth Strategy is looking to maximise skills to make the most of the opportunities that HS2 will bring to the area and sets out aspirations to develop a skilled workforce through close work ‘with the four Universities within Greater Manchester to provide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills through higher apprenticeship, graduate and post-graduate qualifications in close partnership with industry. Rail, like many other industries, have set out their interest in developing a Sector Deal and have been working across the industry and with government to develop their proposal. We expect a focus on skills and apprenticeships to form a key part of a Rail Sector Deal. We have also this year been running the Year of Engineering to increase the number and diversity of engineers across the UK and to address the engineering skills gap.

Railways: North West

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to increase rail investment in the North West of England.

Andrew Jones: We are delivering a comprehensive upgrade of the railway network across the North West that will modernise the infrastructure, improve stations, provide new trains, more seats, more services and reduced journey times. Northern and Trans Pennine Express will deliver space for an extra 40,000 passengers and more than 2,000 extra services a week. All their trains will be brand new or completely refurbished, and all the Pacer trains will be gone. We are planning to invest nearly £3bn upgrading the Trans Pennine route that will deliver improvements for passengers across the north including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle. This is one third of our expected investment in rail upgrades between 2019 and 2024, and our biggest planned investment project on the existing railway in the next five years. The Government is also committed to developing Northern Powerhouse Rail - we have given Transport for the North £60m to develop proposals for the scheme, alongside £300m to ensure HS2 can accommodate future NPR services. At Budget 2018 we announced a further £37m for next year to continue to develop the scheme.

Railways: North West

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the level of the economic contribution made by local supply chains in the Liverpool and Manchester Corridor to the rail industry.

Andrew Jones: The Government values the contribution made by the rail supply industry to the UK economy. It is estimated that the rail industry and its supply chain employ up to 240,000 people and create up to £10.4 billion of GVA each year. There are significant rail industry clusters in both the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine, including firms such as Alstom and Wabtec Faiveley in North West England. The Government is committed to supporting local rail supply chains through our industrial strategy and investment in the railway. For example, constructing the Ordsall Chord supported 2,000 jobs and 200 suppliers. £80 million was spent with companies within 25 miles of the project with 62% of those sub-contractors being small and medium-sized businesses. It has been built using mostly British steel, with the steel for the bridge fabricated in Bolton. More widely, 70% of the HS2 supply chain are small and medium-sized businesses.

Railways: North West

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote rail apprenticeships in the North West of England.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: In 2016 DfT set ambitions through the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy to increase apprenticeships in road and rail bodies to help address skills shortages in the transport sector. DfT works in collaboration with employers across the sector to create quality apprenticeships through an industry body, the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT) to deliver these ambitions. Network Rail, HS2, the Rail Delivery Group, National Skills Academy for Rail and TfL are members of STAT. So far, over 5000 apprenticeships have been created in road and rail bodies.  Since 2017, the Department for Transport has used its procurement to drive apprenticeship numbers through contracts, including those within the rail industry. Network Rail is committed to promoting its apprenticeship programmes, both in the North West and across the country. Network Rail reports that it has taken the following steps to promote its apprenticeships in the North West:career events, such as the National Apprenticeship Show in Boltonlocal schools, colleges and UTCs, at locations including Preston, Manchester, Crewe and Wigan This engagement enables Network Rail to promote work experience opportunities, insight talks, career opportunities and skill sessions. These opportunities are also promoted via digital advertising on social media platforms, job boards and at stations. Those who register their interest regarding apprenticeships can choose to be updated on new opportunities via text and email. In 2017/18 Network Rail’s London North West Route exceeded the public-sector target of having 2.3% of their headcount as apprentice starts and had 196 apprentices in the last financial year.

Radley Station

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing step-free access to both platforms at Radley railway station in Oxfordshire.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are committed to improving access to the rail network and whenever the industry installs, replaces or renews station infrastructure this must meet current accessibility standards. In addition, we have made a further £300m to extend our Access for All programme, which delivers accessible routes at selected stations. The industry was asked to put forward nominations for this funding by 16 November. Radley was not nominated and so will not be assessed for inclusion in the Access for All programme.

Oxford Station

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders on the redevelopment of Oxford railway station.

Andrew Jones: This is a matter for Network Rail, who are engaging with a wide range of stakeholders in Oxford relating to redevelopment of Oxford station.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Timetables

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Govia Thamelink Railway's preparations for the winter timetable update starting on 10 December 2018.

Andrew Jones: To supplement the separate internal assurance processes within Train Operators and Network Rail, since May, industry has established new assurance processes to look at timetable implementation on a network wide basis. This has included setting up a cross industry Programme Management Office (PMO) within Network Rail to carry out this role. They have worked with industry as a whole to develop an informed view of risks, including those related to infrastructure, operator readiness and staffing. As well as the industry PMO processes set out above, GTR has also remained subject to Industry Readiness Board assessment. The Department has had ongoing discussions with GTR about their readiness to deliver in December, including senior weekly calls with the operator to discuss progress. While no option is risk-free, the industry’s approach to the December 2018 timetable offers the greatest possible level of operational confidence. The Department is taking the implementation of the timetable extremely seriously and will be monitoring performance closely.

Stroud Station: Disability

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to allocate funding to Stroud railway station to enable it to be accessible to people with disabilities.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are committed to improving access to the rail network and we have made a further £300m available to extend our Access for All programme, which delivers accessible routes at selected stations. The industry was asked to put forward nominations for this funding by 16 November. Stroud station was one of more than 300 stations nominated. I plan to announce successful stations in April 2019, and whilst I cannot guarantee that Stroud will be included in the programme, I can guarantee it will be given proper consideration and I have noted the Honourable Member’s support.

Railway Stations: Disability

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase funding for the Access for All scheme to improve the provision of step-free access at train stations.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Inclusive Transport Strategy, published on 25 July 2018, included a commitment to extend our Access for All programme across rail Control Period 6 (2019 to 2024) with an additional £300m of funding from the public purse. We have received more than 300 nominations for this funding and plan to announce the successful stations in April next year.

Railway Stations: Disability

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the timescale for implementing step-free access at all train stations through the Access for All funding scheme.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are committed to improving accessibility at railway stations. However, many stations date from a time when the needs of disabled passengers were simply not considered. Therefore whenever infrastructure work is carried out at a station by the industry, it must comply with the relevant EU and UK accessibility standards. This includes major projects such as Crossrail, but also Network Rail’s ongoing renewals programme. However, in recognition of the scale of the problem, and to increase the pace of delivery, the Access for All programme was launched to provide access improvements over and above those required to be delivered by the rail industry, targeting stations not due to have their access improved as part of other projects. We plan to announce the next tranche of Access for All projects in April and the Stations will all be completed by 2024 at the latest.

Railway Stations: Disability

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the time required for all train stations in England and Wales to have step free access at the current pace of works funded by the Access for All funding scheme.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: It is this Government which is giving funding to continue the Access for All programme into the 2019 to 2024 period. Around 75% of rail journeys in the UK now have step free access to and between every platform, which compares with only 50% of journeys in 2005.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Scottish Limited Partnerships: Ownership

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many fines have been levied against Scottish limited partnerships for failing to register a person of significant control.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 23 November 2018



No Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs) have been fined since the People with Significant Control register came into force. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 2nd July 2018 to Question 157783. Compliance is Companies House’s primary aim, rather than prosecution. It is taking action to ensure that all SLPs report their PSC information. Companies House is actively engaged with SLPs and their representatives to make them aware of their responsibilities, and in addition, it has issued reminder letters to all SLPs who have failed to file PSC information. Failure to comply with the requirement to report PSC information does not incur a civil penalty but it is an offence and may lead to a fine or imprisonment upon prosecution. Companies House is not a prosecuting body and will refer cases to a relevant prosecutor when all other avenues have been exhausted and an SLP has not complied with their obligations.In April the Government consulted on a package of reforms which would limit the misuse of limited partnerships, including in their Scottish form. I anticipate that the Government’s response will be published in due course.

Electronic Commerce

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department is providing to online vendors on the rules for online and distance selling after the UK leaves the EU.

Kelly Tolhurst: Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement recently agreed between the United Kingdom and the European Union, current European Union rules relating to distance and online sales will remain in place in the United Kingdom until the end of the Implementation Period. This means businesses will be able to trade on the same regulatory terms as now up until the end of 2020.Businesses can find regularly updated guidance on rules affecting distance sales on the Business Companion website: https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/distance-sales/consumer-contracts-distance-sales

Paternity Leave

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the proportion of men that have taken up full statutory paternity leave in each year for which information is available.

Kelly Tolhurst: The most recent official data on length of family-related leave taken by parents is from the Maternity and Paternity Rights Survey in 2009, which collected data from parents of children born in 2008 across Great Britain. This shows that in 2008, 73% of fathers who took some time off used paternity leave. Of fathers who took paternity leave, 50% took two weeks of leave, 16 per cent took more than two weeks and 34 per cent took less than two weeks. We are currently commissioning a new survey which will provide updated information on family related leave and pay entitlements including Paternity Leave.

Energy: Government Assistance

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the recent decision by the European Court of Justice on state aid clearance for the capacity market, whether energy company payments arising from arrangements made and to be made within the five-year period previously approved by the European Commission will be stopped.

Claire Perry: The recent State aid judgment by the ECJ against the European Commission in the Tempus case was decided on procedural grounds, holding that the Commission should have consulted more fully before granting State aid approval in 2014. It did not challenge the nature of the Capacity Market mechanism itself. The judgment removed State aid approval for the Capacity Market, preventing the UK Government from making any further capacity payments under existing agreements until re-approval. We are already working closely with the Commission to aid their investigation and seek timely State aid approval for the Capacity Market as soon as possible. The Government and National Grid will ensure that market participants are kept updated.

Employment: Electronic Tagging

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2018 to Question 191454 on employment: Electronic Tagging, what the Government's policy is on employers microchipping their employees.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 03 December 2018



I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 26th November 2018.

Carillion: Insolvency

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2018 to Question 168999, if he will expedite the completion and publication of the investigation into the collapse of Carillon by the Official Receiver.

Kelly Tolhurst: A specialist investigation team was set up by the Official Receiver on the making of the winding-up order and, at the request of the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, the investigation into the company including analysis of company records, interviews with directors and close liaison with other investigating authorities is being expedited.

Research: Publications

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what economic impact assessment was conducted by his Department before United Kingdom Research and Innovation signed up to Science Europe’s Open Access Coalition Plan S.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment of standardising and capping open access publication fees on an EU-wide basis as part of the implementation of Science Europe’s Open Access Coalition Plan S.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on UK academic publishing exports of UK Research and Innovation signing up to Science Europe’s Open Access Coalition Plan S.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to implement all 10 principles of Science Europe’s Open Access Coalition Plan S.

Richard Harrington: Plan S is a set of high-level principles which are in line with current UK Government policy and ambitions for Open Access (OA), and identify common ways to accelerate the implementation of OA to meet the European Competitiveness Councils target, set by ministers in 2016, of making all publicly funded research Open Access by 2020. For these reasons, an economic impact assessment was not carried out. UKRI was committed to a Review of OA policies before the announcement of Plan S, as part of its practice of monitoring and improving implementation of the policy. The purpose of the UKRI OA Review is to support delivery of UK government policy on OA to achieve the associated economic and social benefits and ensure the taxpayer secures maximum value for money from investment in publishing research. UKRI will consider Plan S principles within the broader aspects of the OA Review and where they support the delivery of UK OA policy. Any implementation of Plan S principles by UKRI will be subject to the OA Review. This includes the Plan S principle around the standardisation of publication fees and funding across Europe. Costs and benefits around OA models and impacts arising from proposed changes will be considered as part of the OA Review, including sustainability, with wider economic impacts considered by BEIS. The OA Review will report in 2019. On 27th November, the Coalition of funders that are working on Plan S issued further guidance and clarifications. In this they stated that they will be commissioning an independent study on publications costs and fees. The new implementation details and guidance to clarify Plan S principles are open for public feedback.https://www.coalition-s.org/implementation-guidance-on-plan-s-now-open-for-public-feedback/

Merchant Shipping: Minimum Wage

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to improve the enforcement of the national minimum wage for seafarers working on merchant ships operating between UK ports and offshore energy installations on the UK continental shelf.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps HMRC has taken to ensure compliance with the national minimum wage for seafarers working on vessels working in the construction and maintenance phase of the offshore wind industry.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 03 December 2018



Workers who ordinarily work in the UK are entitled to minimum wage for all of their work, including, for example, for work on ships located outside the UK servicing offshore installations. Furthermore, workers on UK registered ships are entitled to minimum wage for all their work on the ship wherever it is located, unless they work entirely outside the UK or are not ordinarily resident in the UK. This Government takes minimum wage enforcement seriously and is committed to ensuring all employers pay their workers correctly. We continue to invest heavily in minimum wage enforcement, increasing the budget to over £25 million for 2018/19, up from £13 million in 2015/16. In addition to following up on every worker complaint received, HMRC undertake proactive investigations and conduct awareness raising activities amongst both employers and workers. Last year, HMRC identified record arrears of £15.6 million, for over 200,000 workers.

Whirlpool Corporation: Tumble Dryers

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Office for Product Safety and Standards has plans to undertake an investigation into the safety of Whirlpool tumble dryers; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 03 December 2018



The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is currently reviewing the corrective action taken by Whirlpool in respect of certain models of tumble dryer and the results of the review will be published when completed.The level of risk for affected models is currently assessed as low and OPSS is keeping this under continuous review. The advice to consumers is that they should not use affected machines until they have been modified by Whirlpool.

STEM Subjects: Females

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with business representatives on potential barriers to recruiting women into the STEM workforce.

Richard Harrington: The demand for STEM skills is growing and industry recognises that there is a gender imbalance, particularly in sectors such as engineering, construction and manufacturing. In order to improve gender representation, we have taken focussed action to engage with businesses, representative bodies and learned societies to understand what the barriers are to participation, retention and progression. This includes a series of engagements to understand what more we can do to work collaboratively and improve representation of women in the STEM sector.

Universities: Research

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that universities have access to EU research programmes after the UK leaves the EU.

Richard Harrington: We have repeatedly stated our commitment to a far-reaching relationship with the EU on science and innovation. We have taken crucial first steps towards achieving this relationship by agreeing in principle the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration. Once ratified, provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement will ensure continued UK participation in existing EU Programmes for their duration. Horizon 2020 is a current EU Programme. We have also been clear that we would like the option to associate to the next EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme, Horizon Europe. The Political Declaration represents an important milestone by explicitly providing for the inclusion of terms for UK participation in Union programmes, such as science and innovation as part of a future UK-EU agreement. In the unlikely event of no deal, the underwrite guarantee and extension would ensure continued UK participation in Horizon 2020 post-EU Exit. In this scenario, UK entities would be eligible to participate in and lead consortia in a wide range of collaborative programmes. We are seeking to discuss the details of our continued participation as a Third Country with the European Commission. Whilst the UK remains a Member State, we continue to play an active role in the development of EU programmes, engaging with our counterparts in the European, Commission, Council and Parliament to ensure these remain attractive to international partners.

Post Offices

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many customer transactions were undertaken at post offices in each of the last five years.

Kelly Tolhurst: In order to improve the customer experience, the Post Office provides branch services in a number of different ways, including over the counter, through ATMs, lottery and bill payment terminals, Self Service Kiosks, mail acceptance points, customer referrals and many more. It would therefore be impossible to capture all transactions. However, the Post Office gathers information through a regular independent monitoring process which shows that weekly customer visits across the Post Office network are around 16 million a week. Five years ago, the Post Office estimated that the weekly visits were around 17 million. The small decline is in line with general shopping patterns with more business being conducted on-line and via other channels.

Post Offices: Biometrics

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many biometric applications were lodged at post offices in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how much revenue those applications raised.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Post Office provides biometric services on behalf of the Home Office. The fee payable by customers is £19.20 (including VAT). Excluding the VAT makes the net revenue to the Post Office £16 per transaction. The volume of transactions for the last 3 years is as follows: YearVolume of Transactions2015/16511,0442016/17531,3472017/18529,816

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to (a) extend and (b) promote the warm home discount scheme.

Claire Perry: New Warm Home Discount Regulations were consulted on earlier this year and approved by Parliament in July. They extend the scheme until winter 2020-21. The Department for Work and Pensions engage with participating energy suppliers to match the name and address details of recipients of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit and will write to them, either confirming that the discount will be paid automatically, or explaining that they need to verify their details with the Warm Home Discount helpline. Notice is also provided to the public through GOV.UK, the website for the UK Government. In addition, participating energy suppliers notify their customers on their websites and some also choose to write to them.

Office for Product Safety and Standards: Staff

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many posts there are at the Office for Product Safety and Standards; and whether all those posts have been filled.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards was established in January 2018 and has been implementing a plan to increase its staff resource in line with its strategy and action plan over the current financial year. The Office currently has almost 250 staff with 50 more posts to be recruited by the end of the financial year.

Office for Product Safety and Standards

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the resources allocated to the Office for Product Safety and Standards; and whether he plans to make an up to date assessment of those resources.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards was allocated £9m of new programme funding in 2018-19 and this will increase to £12m in 2019-20. Assessment on future resourcing will take place in due course in preparation for the next spending review.

Office for Product Safety and Standards: Accountability

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the Office of Product Safety and Standards is held accountable by his Department.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards is a departmental office within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. As such, it reports and is accountable for delivery against its strategy and action plan to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Office for Product Safety and Standards

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Office for Product Safety and Standards plans to report on its progress against its objectives.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards published its strategy and delivery plan in August, alongside detail of early actions taken in the first months of its operation. The Office will publish an update on progress following its first year of operation.

Office for Product Safety and Standards: Annual Reports

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Office for Product Safety and Standards has an annual report plan.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards will publish an update on progress against the delivery plan following its first year of operation.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

China: Swine Fever

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Chinese counterpart on ensuring that swine fever does not spread in mainland China.

Mark Field: We are in regular and direct contact with the Chinese authorities through our Embassy in Beijing on all matters of food, hygiene and public health.We are aware that in the second half of this year, the Chinese authorities have reported over 70 outbreaks of Africa Swine Fever in domestic pigs. One case of African Swine Fever in wild boar has also been reported.We will continue to monitor the situation in China, and engage with the Chinese authorities on this issue.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Government in Sri Lanka on establishing stable government in that country.

Mark Field: I am deeply concerned by the deteriorating political situation in Sri Lanka. I have called on a number of occasions for all parties to ensure that the constitution is respected and due political process upheld.Our High Commissioner is in frequent contact with politicians from all parties to give the same messages, and stress the importance of Parliament being allowed to do its job without hindrance.

China: Animal Products

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the UK Government has had with the Chinese Government on banning the sale of rhino and tiger remedies.

Mark Field: The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to protect endangered animals from unsustainable trade. We hosted a high level conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in London in October, and at that conference China co-hosted a session on combatting the ivory trade following their introduction of a domestic ivory ban. Senior officials in Beijing and London have raised our concerns with China at their recent adjustment to their 1993 legislation on tiger and rhino products. We continue to seek clarification on whether their recent reversal of this legislation will be permanent.​

Togo: Human Rights

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,  what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Togo on the state of human rights in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: The British Government strongly supports the delivery and upholding of human rights for all. During the UN Universal Periodic Review for Togo in October 2016, the UK welcomed its accession to the Second Operational Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty as well as its election to the Human Rights Council. The UK raised concerns on: child trafficking, prison policies, prison overcrowding and the treatment of detainees. We recommended that allegations of arbitrary arrest and detention and allegations of torture should be investigated thoroughly.Togo has subsequently made welcome progress on human rights, taking steps to prevent torture and other human rights violations by the security forces. The continued resistance to ensure the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people remains deeply troubling and we urge the Government of Togo to implement laws that protect all individuals

Togo: Demonstrations

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the Togo Government respects the right of the Togolese to peaceful protest and demonstrations.

Harriett Baldwin: We encourage all parties to engage in peaceful dialogue with a view to adopting political reforms that will strengthen democracy in Togo. The British Government is engaging with the Government of Togo and partners in the region to urge a peaceful solution to the protests in the country.

Togo: Human Rights and LGBT People

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage the Togo Government to accept recommendations made by the UN for it to (a) repeal laws which target human rights defenders and (b) implement laws which protect LGBTI people in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: The British Government strongly supports the delivery and upholding of human rights for all. During the UN Universal Periodic Review for Togo in October 2016, the UK welcomed its accession to the Second Operational Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty as well as its election to the Human Rights Council. The UK raised concerns on: child trafficking, prison policies, prison overcrowding and the treatment of detainees. We recommended that allegations of arbitrary arrest and detention and allegations of torture should be investigated thoroughly.Togo has subsequently made welcome progress on human rights, taking steps to prevent torture and other human rights violations by the security forces. The continued resistance to ensure the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people remains deeply troubling and we urge the Government of Togo to implement laws that protect all individuals.

Togo: Political Prisoners

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the treatment of political prisoners in Togo who oppose the Togo Government.

Harriett Baldwin: The British Government strongly supports the delivery and upholding of human rights for all. During the UN Universal Periodic Review for Togo in October 2016, the UK welcomed its accession to the Second Operational Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty as well as its election to the Human Rights Council. The UK raised concerns on: child trafficking, prison policies, prison overcrowding and the treatment of detainees. We recommended that allegations of arbitrary arrest and detention and allegations of torture should be investigated thoroughly.Togo has subsequently made welcome progress on human rights, taking steps to prevent torture and other human rights violations by the security forces. The continued resistance to ensure the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people remains deeply troubling and we urge the Government of Togo to implement laws that protect all individuals.

Togo: Elections

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of the ECOWAS political roadmap for Togo; and what plans the Government has to help that country to carry out reforms to ensure a fair election free from violence.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK has supported the President of Ghana, under the auspices of ECOWAS, in his mediation efforts on political dialogue which we hope will lead to free and fair elections in Togo on 20 December. The mediation recommended that all parties refrain from protest in the country in the lead up to the elections. We encourage both the Government and the opposition parties to continue with their efforts to reach an agreed political solution and ensure elections are free and fair and avoid violence.

Palestinians: Human Rights

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to defend the human rights of Palestinians in the Palestinian Territories.

Alistair Burt: ​We remain seriously concerned about the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We continue to raise concerns with the Israeli Government on instances constituting a breach of international human rights and humanitarian law in the context of Israel’s occupation of the OPTs, including demolitions, settlement construction, and the treatment of children in military detention. We also raise our concerns over human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority and oppose the human rights abuses by Hamas in Gaza.

Climate Change Convention

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the US Administration on the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Mark Field: ​I have had no recent discussions with counterparts within the US Administration on the Paris Agreement. Nevertheless Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers and officials continue to work with the US – at federal and state level – on the full range of climate change and renewable energy issues.

Victor-Luke Odhiambo

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has raised with his South Sudan counterpart reports of the murder of Jesuit Priest Father Victor-Luke Odhiambo in Cueibet, South Sudan on 15 November 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK strongly condemns the killing of Father Victor-Luke Odhiambo in Cueibet, and we call on the South Sudanese authorities to investigate fully. We are urging all parties to the conflict in South Sudan to demonstrate that they are committed to effective implementation of the peace agreement, signed on 12 September, by immediately ending all violence, and ensuring that there is accountability for those who seek to undermine peace.

South Sudan: Violence

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of violence in South Sudan since the signing of the peace agreement in Khartoum in August 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: Following the signing of the peace agreement on 12 September, overall levels of violence in South Sudan have reduced. But progress on implementation of the agreement is slow and inconsistent, and ceasefire violations are continuing in some areas. Despite the progress made, the people of South Sudan continue to suffer appalling abuses we are deeply concerned by recent reports of multiple rapes, severe beatings, and robberies committed against women and children in the Bentiu area. We condemn these horrific attacks in the strongest terms and, along with the UN, international partners, and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM), are urging the authorities to conduct an immediate, thorough investigation, and to ensure all perpetrators are held to account. The UK, alongside our Troika partners, continues to support progress on the peace process, including providing an expert to assist with the work of the Technical Boundary Commission. To justify international assistance, the parties to the conflict must show they are genuinely committed to implementation of the agreement by putting an immediate end to all violence. We continue to urge the region and the international community to hold accountable those who are working against peace, which must include the robust enforcement of UN sanctions and the arms embargo.

South Sudan: Foreign Relations

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will publish a summary of the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue meeting which took place in London on 8 November 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: The sixth round of the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue took place in London on 7 November 2018, co-chaired by Assistant Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Director for Africa. The dialogue covered bilateral issues and the need for progress across a range of topics, including political reforms, peace processes, human rights, economic reforms, and migration, with separate discussions on trade and culture. The Sudanese delegation also met Lord Ahmad, Minister for the Commonwealth and the UN, to discuss UN peacekeeping and human rights, including human trafficking, freedom of the media, and freedom of religion or belief.A full communique will be published on the British Government's website shortly.

Tunisia: Elections

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Tunisian counterpart on encouraging democratic participation ahead of the legislative elections planned in that country for 2019.

Alistair Burt: ​Democratic participation is part of our ongoing dialogue with Tunisia about their democratic transition, and was a feature of both Lord Ahmad's and my visits to Tunisia this summer. Municipal elections in May were an important milestone in Tunisia's democratic transition, including in terms of encouraging local community engagement.

Tunisia: British Nationals Abroad

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Tunisian counterparts on the security of British nationals following the attempted terrorist attack in Tunis in October.

Alistair Burt: ​I met the Tunisian Minister of Interior, Hichem Fourati, in London shortly after the recent attack in Tunis. We discussed the security challenges facing Tunisia, including the regional nature of the terrorist threat, and our ongoing co-operation to help build the capacity of Tunisia's security forces.

Tunisia: Immigrants

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to work with the Tunisian Government to prevent migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

Alistair Burt: ​The British Government is concerned about the increasing numbers of migrants crossing illegally from Tunisia to Europe.We are working closely with the Tunisian Government to help improve their border security, including through the provision of Royal Navy and Royal Marine instructors to assist the Tunisian National Guard Maritime section. More broadly, the British Government actively pursues a 'whole of route' approach to addressing unmanaged migration from Africa to Europe, tackling the drivers of migration that encourage people to undertake the dangerous journey in the first place. We will play an active role in the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, to be held in Marrakech in December.

Diplomatic Service: Visas

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Home Office on the operation of the online visa system for diplomats.

Sir Alan Duncan: The FCO leads on policy on the immigration status of foreign diplomats accredited or appointed to the Court of St. James’s. The FCO has had no need recently to discuss the online system for diplomatic accreditation with the Home Office.

Tunisia: Politics and Government

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the economic and political situation in Tunisia.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK continues to follow developments in Tunisia closely. The picture with regard to economic growth is improving, but it is important that Prime Minister Chahed's Government stays the course on economic reform. The UK is committed to deepening its economic partnership with Tunisia. Successful municipal elections in May were an important milestone ahead of the legislative and Presidential elections due next year. We will continue to encourage Tunisia to prioritise the consolidation of independent democratic institutions, in particular through the establishment of a Constitutional Court.

Tunisia: Tourism

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has held with the aviation sector to encourage tourism to Tunisia since the removal of the travel ban imposed on that country in 2015.

Alistair Burt: ​We engage regularly with the travel industry, including the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and the major tour operators, on the topic of Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice and consular prevention campaigns to help travellers enjoy safe and trouble-free trips abroad. The Department for Transport works closely with both the Tunisian authorities and air carriers operating between Tunisia and the UK; this includes regular meetings with air carrier representatives both in the UK and Tunisia.

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Tunisian counterpart on steps to prevent migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Alistair Burt: The British Government is concerned about the increasing numbers of migrants crossing illegally from Tunisia to Europe.We are working closely with the Tunisian Government to help improve their border security, including through the provision of Royal Navy and Royal Marine instructors to assist the Tunisian National Guard Maritime section. More broadly, the British Government actively pursues a 'whole of route' approach to addressing unmanaged migration from Africa to Europe, tackling the drivers of migration that encourage people to undertake the dangerous journey in the first place. We will play an active role in the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, to be held in Marrakech in December.

Sri Lanka: Official Visits

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans to visit Sri Lanka.

Mark Field: ​I issued statements on 26 and 29 October, and on 9 November, setting out our concerns at recent political developments in Sri Lanka and calling for due political process to be upheld. It is vital that all sides refrain from violence and make efforts to resolve the situation peacefully and as soon as possible. Our High Commissioner to Sri Lanka continues to meet regularly with all political parties, and has expressed our concern at the behaviour of some MPs in disrupting Parliamentary proceedings. We have stressed the importance of MPs allowing Parliament to do its job.I last visited Sri Lanka in October, before the current crisis, where I met Foreign Minister Marapana and other Ministers. We discussed the range of our bilateral interests and I urged more progress on human rights and reconciliation. I also met the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, as well as human rights and civil society activists. I have continued to urge the Sri Lankan government to fully implement its commitments to the UN Human Rights Council. I plan to visit in 2019.I have received regular representations from the Tamil community on a range of their interests and concerns. I last met with the APPG for Tamil's including some representatives from the Tamil community on 3 December to discuss the current political situation. Foreign Office staff also regularly meet with Tamil representatives, both in Sri Lanka and the UK.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the Tamil community on the situation in Sri Lanka.

Mark Field: I issued statements on 26 and 29 October, and on 9 November, setting out our concerns at recent political developments in Sri Lanka and calling for due political process to be upheld. It is vital that all sides refrain from violence and make efforts to resolve the situation peacefully and as soon as possible. Our High Commissioner to Sri Lanka continues to meet regularly with all political parties, and has expressed our concern at the behaviour of some MPs in disrupting Parliamentary proceedings. We have stressed the importance of MPs allowing Parliament to do its job.I last visited Sri Lanka in early October, before the current crisis, where I met Foreign Minister Marapana and other Ministers. We discussed the range of our bilateral interests and I urged more progress on human rights and reconciliation. I also met the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, as well as human rights and civil society activists. I have continued to urge the Sri Lankan government to fully implement its commitments to the UN Human Rights Council. I plan to visit Sri Lanka in 2019.I have received regular representations from the Tamil community on a range of their interests and concerns. I last met with the APPG for Tamil's including some representatives from the Tamil community on 3 December to discuss the current political situation. Foreign Office staff also regularly meet with Tamil representatives, both in Sri Lanka and the UK.

Colombia: Prosperity Fund

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the UK Prosperity Fund for Columbia, published on 10 August 2018 on gov.uk, what programmes his Department provides financial support to in Columbia in addition to the funding outlined in that document.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office jointly manages a number of cross Government programmes in Colombia.The Cross Government Prosperity Fund supports a multi-year programme (2017-2022) in Colombia with a total allocation of £25.5m. Commencing implementation in April 2018, it will help to rebuild Colombia and improve the lives of more than 3 million people affected by conflict and create export opportunities to the UK.The Cross Government Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) has allocated almost £40m to two programmes in Colombia since 2015. The two programmes are i) Colombia Security and Access to Peace; and ii) Peru/Colombia Serious Organised Crime.The International Climate Fund (ICF) managed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has allocated over £130m to multi-year (2013 to 2021) programmes in Colombia. In Colombia the ICF supports six programmes which aim to reduce deforestation, increase carbon capture, increase the use of green technology and create secondary benefits for UK companies. Colombia also benefits from a share of £177m in regional ICF programmes which also includes Brazil, Mexico & Peru.The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) provides £7.8m to two programmes in Colombia managed by the UK Space Agency which use satellite based technologies such as Earth Observation to monitor deforestation and climate change. Colombia also benefits from regional programmes supported by up to £18m from the GCRF.The Newton Fund managed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has provided £11.2m (2014-2018) of a planned £30m by 2021 for joint scientific research in Colombia, with 100% matched resource from the Colombian Government. This collaboration is known as the Newton-Caldas Fund (named after prominent scientists in both countries) and has supported biodiversity research involving experts from Kew Gardens and has discovered more than 30 new species and 5 that were thought to be extinct.The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Fund has spent over £2.5m on projects in Colombia since 2011. Colombia is one of 30 countries designated by the FCO as a Human Rights Priority Country. The programmes managed by the British Embassy in Bogota priorities work to support human rights defenders, the Preventing Sexual Violence In Conflict Initiative and tackling Modern Slavery.

South Sudan: Arms Trade

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with his counterparts in the United Nations to ensure compliance with the arms embargo on South Sudan imposed by the UN Security Council in July 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK played a leading role in the Security Council's decision to impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on South Sudan in July 2018.Through sustained Ministerial and official level engagement, we continue to urge the region and the international community to fulfil their obligations to ensure that UN measures are rigorously implemented, to prevent the flow of weapons fuelling conflict, and to incentivise the parties to compromise in the interests of peace.

China: Ethnic Groups

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Government of the People's Republic of China on its use of the social credit system to identify and detain citizens of Uighur ethnicity.

Mark Field: We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the Chinese Government’s deepening crackdown; including credible reports of re-education camps and widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities.During China’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council on 6 November, the UK made a statement which described our concern about the treatment of ethnic minorities in China, including Uyghurs. We issued a specific recommendation, calling on China to implement the recommendations by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Xinjiang, and to allow the UN to monitor the implementation. We also raised our concerns about Xinjiang in our Item 4 statement at the September UN Human Rights Council, and we supported the statement of 26 October by the European External Action Service highlighting concerns about Xinjiang.I raised our concerns about Xinjiang with Vice Minister Guo Yezhou during my visit to China on 22 July 2018. The Foreign Secretary also raised our concerns about the region with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit to China on 30 July 2018.

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he has to support peace-building in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: ​I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I provided to question 196663, tabled on 29 November 2018.

Libya: Politics and Government

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political and security situation in Libya.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK remains deeply concerned by the security situation in Libya. Recent violence in Tripoli has highlighted the need for more sustainable security arrangements not just in the capital but across the whole of the country. We strongly condemn any threats or use of force which endanger civilians, threaten stability or undermine the UN-led political process.The political situation in Libya remains complex. We are clear that the only way of achieving stability in Libya is through an inclusive political settlement. The UK strongly supports UN Special Representative Ghassan Salamé and welcomes his plan for a National Conference to take place in early 2019. This is intended to bring together a wide range of Libyan stakeholders in order to seek broader consensus on key questions relating to Libya's political transition. In addition to our support of the UN-led political process, we continue to play an active role in wider efforts to stabilise Libya. This year we have allocated £12 million through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund to boost political participation and economic development, and to support the delivery of greater security, stability and resilience, including through tackling extremism.

Middle East and North Africa: Radicalism

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of whether there are any financial links between extreme Islamist groups in the Middle East and North Africa and extreme Islamist groups in the United Kingdom.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has not made any assessment of whether there are financial links between extremist Islamist groups in the Middle East and North Africa and extremist Islamist groups in the UK. In July 2017 the Government concluded its internal review into the funding for Islamist extremist activity in the UK, and issued a Written Ministerial Statement. The review has improved the Government’s understanding of the nature, scale and sources of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK. The Statement is a comprehensive reflection of the review’s findings: www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-07-12/HCWS39

Middle East and North Africa: Refugees

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who drowned while attempting to reach Europe from the Middle East and North Africa in 2017.

Sir Alan Duncan: According to the International Organisation for Migration there was an estimated total of 3,116 fatalities across all routes in 2017 (Central Mediterranean route: 2,832; Eastern Mediterranean route: 61; Western Mediterranean route: 223). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates a similar total of 3,139 fatalities (Central Mediterranean route: 2873; Eastern Mediterranean route: 54; Western Mediterranean route: 212).

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for International Development of Wednesday 21 November 2018, Official Report, column HL233, when the updated impact assessments on the effects of exiting the EU on regions and nations will be published.

Kwasi Kwarteng: I refer the Hon Member to the paper ‘EU exit: Long-term economic analysis’ (Cm 9741) laid before Parliament on Wednesday 28 November 2018.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759762/28_November_EU_Exit_-_Long-term_economic_analysis.pdf

Crime Prevention: International Cooperation

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what progress he has made in negotiations with the EU on the UK's participation in the Prum Convention on the exchange of fingerprint, DNA and vehicle registration data after the UK leaves the EU.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Swift and effective data exchange is a vital component of modern law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation.As set out in the Political Declaration, the UK and EU have already agreed the need for a reciprocal exchange of fingerprints, DNA and vehicle registration data, delivered through the Prüm system.This capability, once fully implemented by the UK, will help bring criminals and terrorists to justice both in the UK and the EU.The exact nature of future cooperation on this form of data sharing will be determined by formal negotiations once the UK has left the EU on the 29th March 2019.

Dover Port: Domestic Visits

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will publish the dates of the visits he has made to the port of Dover since May 2015.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Secretary of State has not visited the Port of Dover during his time in position. Ministers in the Department for Exiting the EU with responsibility for ports visited the Port of Dover twice this year. Former Minister Suella Braverman on the 14th May and Minister Chris Heaton-Harris on the 24th August. DExEU ministers have visited 19 ports to date as part of a wider programme of engagement carried out by other Government ministers and officials to ports around the United Kingdom. Ministers from across Government have also carried out extensive engagement on EU exit with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy, including ports and the maritime industry, and will continue to do so.

Department of Health and Social Care

Surgery: Robotics

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what safeguards are in place to ensure that robotic surgery for operations is adequately monitored.

Caroline Dinenage: Safeguards apply to all forms of surgery: it is the responsibility of the professionals involved to ensure that they operate to the right level of competence and of the organisations they work for to ensure that they have in place effective forms of supervision, learning and support. All robotic surgical systems are classed as medical devices and fall under the regulation of the Medical Device Directive. In addition, although the Care Quality Commission does not ordinarily enquire about different types of surgical technique during its inspections, it does look at arrangements, systems and processes and governance that a provider has in place to ensure care and treatment is safe, effective, responsive, caring and well-led.

Bladder Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have had bladder cancer in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The following table outlines the number of new diagnoses of bladder cancer in each of the last five years for which data are available. YearMalesFemalesTotal20126,5542,4919,04520136,4732,4578,93020146,3462,3028,64820156,2312,3618,59220166,1112,3268,437Source: Cancer registration statistics, England; 2016: Finalhttps://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/cancerregistrationstatisticscancerregistrationstatisticsengland

Sepsis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of sepsis in the UK.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS England and NHS Improvement jointly chair the national cross system sepsis board. The board membership includes representatives from a number of statutory organisations, Royal Colleges, expert clinicians and the UK Sepsis Trust. In September 2017, the board published the second sepsis action plan setting out a range of actions to improve the incidence, recognition and treatment of sepsis. The plan focuses on reducing the incidence of sepsis highlighting the importance of infection prevention, especially for groups at higher risk of developing sepsis, and the availability of immunisation programmes. In addition, there are actions to raise awareness of sepsis, both through the commissioning of services and through education materials developed by Health Education England and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Epidermolysis Bullosa

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people with Epidermolysis Bullosa in the UK.

Steve Brine: Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a rare condition with an estimated 1/17,000 children born with the condition in the United Kingdom. We estimate that there are currently 5,000 people living with the condition. Due to the way data is collected, the exact number of EB diagnoses is difficult to ascertain. Finished admission episodes (FAE) data for England show that in the financial year of 2013-14, 313 patients received a primary diagnosis of EB. In the following years 244 (2014-15), 360 (2015-16), 346 (2016-167) and 349 (2017-18) patients, respectively, received a primary diagnosis of EB. A FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

Health Services: Rural Areas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on rural proofing the forthcoming NHS long-term plan.

Stephen Hammond: The Government expects National Health Service leaders, clinicians and experts to develop the long-term plan to ensure that the NHS can cope with the serious demand and cost pressures it faces in the future. It will be published later this year. We have agreed with the NHS a set of six principles and five financial tests which must underpin the plan in order to meet the high expectations people have for the NHS now and in the future. Spreading best practice so people get the right treatment wherever they live; eliminating the unnecessary and unacceptable variation in quality of care we see today across the country; building the workforce we need for the future; and embracing the opportunities of technology will ensure the needs of rural communities are accounted for in the long-term plan.

Speech and Language Disorders: Children and Young People

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has plans to support NHS providers to collect data on the quality and the outcomes of interventions for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs by (a) recommending the inclusion of outcome measures in the community services dataset and (b) expanding the model hospital dashboard to include quality metrics.

Caroline Dinenage: The Community Services Data Set is developing in phases. At present it has the capacity to record coded assessments, and this facility is mainly used for the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, which assesses the development performance of children in a variety of areas, including communication. NHS Digital publishes data relating the Ages and Stages Questionnaire scores at 24, 27 and 30 months, including the children’s scores in the communication domain. NHS Digital continues to work with stakeholders from NHS England, Public Health England and elsewhere to understand further requirements around the Community Services Data Set, including in relation to outcomes. When outcomes measures are included in the Community Services Data Set, these will be reflected in the Model Community Health Services site, which will be a resource providing metrics on services delivered in the community.

Surgery

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the NHS is of an overnight stay in hospital for a patient that has undergone surgery.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the average cost to the NHS is calculated for an overnight stay in hospital for a patient that has undergone surgery; and what criteria are used to calculate that cost.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the NHS is of an overnight stay in a hospital high dependency unit; how that cost is calculated; and what criteria are used to calculate that cost.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost to the NHS is of an overnight stay in a hospital intensive care unit; how that cost is calculated; and what criteria are used to calculate that cost.

Stephen Hammond: Whilst the information is not collected centrally in the format requested, NHS Improvement collect and publish reference costs data and the 2017/18 reference costs were published on 15 November.

Multiple Sclerosis: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people who have multiple sclerosis and live in Oxfordshire who are eligible for a disease modifying treatment and are accessing one.

Steve Brine: No estimate has been made.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to work with other Departments to improve mental health provision for 18 to 25-year-olds.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department of Health and Social Care works with a number of other Departments to improve mental health support for young adults: We support the work of the Department for Education on the mental health of university students. In June 2018, the Department for Education announced a number of initiatives to promote university student mental health, including the launch of a University Mental Health Charter; a Department for Education-led working group looking into the transition issues students face when going into higher education; and exploring whether an opt-in requirement for universities could be considered, so they could have permission to share information on student mental health with a parent or other trusted person. On suicide prevention, we have worked with partners across Government and its agencies to develop the first cross-Government suicide prevention work plan which sets out our commitments for suicide prevention up to 2020 and will be published soon. This includes actions for addressing suicide and self-harm prevention in young people and adults. We are working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the impact of social media on young people’s mental health, including on the joint Home Office / DCMS Online Harms White Paper. The White Paper is considering measures including a code of conduct for social media companies and improving transparency reporting. We are working with the Ministry of Justice, NHS England and Public Health England to divert people with mental health, substance misuse and other vulnerabilities into treatment and away from custodial sentences where appropriate. Liaison and Diversion services operate in police stations and courts to identify, assess and refer people of all ages with mental health and other vulnerabilities to treatment or support services when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system. These services cover 82% of the population and are expected to cover 100% of the population by 2020/21.

Bisphosphonates

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NICE has made in updating its guidance on the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Medical Equipment: UK Notified Bodies

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many UK-based notified bodies for medical devices have registered under the EU Medical Devices Regulations 2017; how many of those bodies were registered under previous regulations; what assessment he has made of the effect on the NHS in the event that insufficient notified bodies register; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are currently four United Kingdom-based notified bodies designated under the Directive 93/42/EC on medical devices and Directive 98/79/EC on in vitro diagnostic medical devices. Of these four UK notified bodies, one is also designated Directive 90/385/EEC on active implantable medical devices. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the designating authority in the UK and is responsible for designating and monitoring the performance of UK notified bodies. This includes undertaking regular audits of their activities. New European Union Regulations for medical devices (Regulation 2017/745) and in vitro diagnostic medical devices (Regulation 2017/746) entered into force in May 2017, with Regulation 2017/745 fully applying from May 2020 and Regulation 2017/746 fully applying from May 2022. Each notified body will need to apply for separate designation under these Regulations. No notified body in the UK, or across the EU, is currently designated under either Regulation. The new Regulations substantially strengthen the regulatory framework for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic devices and the MHRA recognises the importance of having competent notified bodies in place in sufficient time to ensure continuity of supply of products to the UK market. To this end, the MHRA has been engaging with UK notified bodies on an ongoing basis to ensure that sufficient resources are in place and to ensure notified bodies are prepared for the designation process. The MHRA is also providing expert auditors to support the process of joint assessment of notified bodies under the new legislation across the EU to support the consistent application of the new Regulations across all EU Member States.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) trends in the level of use of pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce HIV infections.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Loans

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 194780 on NHS: Loans, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) repayment and (b) associated interest payments for Department of Health loans to each individual NHS Trust and Foundation Trust in Greater London in each year since 2015.

Stephen Hammond: All loan principal repayments from revolving loan facilities have been excluded here because repayments may have been funded by prior draws made against the facility. The amount of loan repayments and interest paid in Greater London to each individual National Health Service trust and foundation trust in each year since 2015-16 are set out in the three following tables: 2017-18TrustPrincipalInterestBarking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust£975,754£1,068,538Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust£498,000£636,370Barts Health NHS Trust£3,869,000£9,825,747Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust£718,516£73,908Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£3,530,835£1,028,474Croydon Health Services NHS Trust£2,831,835£1,716,611Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust£11,283,000£862,414Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust£10,485,400£5,686,462Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£291,757£202,875Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust£1,226,000£1,218,175King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£4,807,600£8,792,641Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£2,619,000£280,303Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust£6,787,151£2,339,889London North West Healthcare NHS Trust£11,106,679£2,663,016Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£1,823,200£1,185,145North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust£1,350,000£1,104,331Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust£3,880,000£1,113,449Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust£1,578,000£2,682,948Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust£1,164,000£719,079St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£3,220,865£4,672,554The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£2,450,000£696,419University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£26,460,213£1,709,223West London NHS Trust£3,576,326£2,588,371Whittington Health NHS Trust£164,000£475,727   2016-17TrustPrincipalInterestBarking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust£601,900£1,426,522Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust£498,000£363,000Barts Health NHS Trust£2,805,500£6,125,515Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust£718,516£82,523Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£3,343,318£957,732Croydon Health Services NHS Trust£0£1,128,417Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust£8,212,000£1,043,362Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust£10,018,000£5,475,242Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£1,368,403£274,594Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust£1,226,000£1,190,438King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£3,867,600£5,012,054Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£540,000£225,188Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust£787,151£1,479,364London North West Healthcare NHS Trust£136,000£2,473,867Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£1,823,200£1,250,281North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust£2,110,000£580,412Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust£0£747,062Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust£1,578,000£1,224,459Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust£1,164,000£312,799St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£1,600,865£2,083,258The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£1,390,000£422,219University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£1,507,084£1,946,295West London NHS Trust£910,726£2,491,824Whittington Health NHS Trust£0£151,1622015-16 TrustPrincipalInterest Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust£2,101,900£859,415 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust£498,000£383,000 Barts Health NHS Trust£5,048,000£1,630,789 Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust£0£19,834 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£44,440,400£911,533 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust£0£373,082 Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust£0£244,425 Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust£6,519,000£4,703,326 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£270,643£265,245 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust£1,226,000£763,000 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£3,867,600£3,478,063 Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£0£166,826 Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust£6,611,151£804,542 London North West Healthcare NHS Trust£136,000£837,692 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust£1,823,200£1,286,419 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust£2,110,000£332,495 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust£0£300,518 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust£1,578,000£878,788 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust£1,923,000£239,150 St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£296,065£692,400 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£1,390,000£410,091 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust£28,101,285£2,607,980 West London NHS Trust£225,481£1,210,074 Whittington Health NHS Trust£0£373,253  The Department publishes data annually on all financial assistance, including new loans issued, repaid and outstanding balances. This report accompanies the Department’s annual report and the 2017-18 version can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018

Prescriptions: Universal Credit

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to update the form used to obtain free prescriptions to include an option for universal credit.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Out of Area Treatment: Northern Ireland

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to facilitate cross-border arrangements to allow for sufferers of medical illnesses in Northern Ireland to easily enter the Republic of Ireland in order to have treatment administered in specialist centres in that country in the event of the UK leaving the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: The agreement we have reached with the European Union is that during the implementation period all reciprocal healthcare rights will continue and there will be no changes to healthcare for pensioners, workers, students, tourists and other visitors, the European Health Insurance Card scheme, or planned treatment. The Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill will then allow us to implement a deal regarding our future healthcare relationship with the EU, including the Republic of Ireland. A deal remains in the best interests of the United Kingdom. However, as a responsible Government we are planning for all outcomes. In the event of a no-deal, the UK would like to enter into reciprocal agreements with individual EU Member States including with Ireland after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. We recognise our unique relationship with Ireland and the importance of the Common Travel Area (CTA). The UK and Ireland are both committed to maintaining the current access to health care under the CTA after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Our focus is on securing the right outcome for the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland.

Prescriptions: Universal Credit

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the number of prescription fines issued in universal credit and legacy benefit areas.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prescriptions: Universal Credit

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to (a) GP surgeries and (b) pharmacies on the use of prescription forms that do not include a tick box for universal credit.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Royal Liverpool Hospital: Construction

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide an update on the timescale for the completion of the new Royal Liverpool University; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of completing construction of the hospital under public ownership.

Stephen Hammond: The current estimate of the cost to complete the new Royal Liverpool University hospital, to be funded from public capital, is £144 million + VAT. The current target handover date is Quarter 4 of 2020.

Emigration: Children

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Inequalities of 27 November 2018, Official Report, Column 152, on what date his Department is planning to provide a formal response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's report on Child Migrant Programmes, published on 1 March 2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are carefully considering all the findings and recommendations made in the Child Migration Programmes report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and will respond shortly. The Government is acutely aware of the age and declining health of many former child migrants and is committed to providing a considered response to the Inquiry's recommendations.

NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2018 to Question 174763, what proportion of the income from dividends and investments due to Community Health Partnerships in the 49 LIFT Companies has been reinvested in improving local health facilities.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2018 to Question 174763 on NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust, what proportion of that income has been used in supporting Departmental initiatives.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2018 to Question 174763 on NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust, what proportion of that income has been used to meet the costs of managing the 49 Lift Companies.

Stephen Hammond: The income used from dividends and investments in Life Improvement Finance Trust companies in 2017/18 is broken down in the following manner: - Reinvested in improving local health facilities – 55%- Used by the Department in supporting departmental initiatives – 32%- Meet the costs of managing the 49 LIFT companies – 13%

Vaccination: Take-up

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of anti-vaccination groups on vaccination take-up.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS Foundation Trusts: Subsidiary Companies

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS Foundation Trusts will be required to comply with the new NHS Improvement regulatory framework on wholly owned subsidiary companies.

Stephen Hammond: Under powers granted under the NHS Act 2006, National Health Service organisations are able to create wholly owned subsidiaries as an alternative to outsourcing services to the private sector. On 26 November 2018, NHS Improvement published new guidance on the creation of subsidiaries that provides for both NHS foundation trusts and NHS trusts to comply with the new regulatory framework and to understand what would count as a sound commercial case for setting up subsidiaries.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what mechanisms her Department has in place to monitor the spending of overseas aid to prevent abuse and corruption.

Alistair Burt: DFID operates in challenging contexts providing a wide spectrum of aid and assistance.DFID has rigorous controls to ensure that aid reaches those for whom it is intended and delivers results.DFID does not give money to organisations or governments if we are not confident that they will manage it well. DFID has a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and has in place a wide range of standard controls and measures to protect UK aid. These include:Rigorous risk assessments and monitoring requirements for all programmes. All DFID programmes are assessed at inception to identify and address the risk of aid diversion, such as weaknesses in a recipient’s financial systems. Where necessary, programmes will insist on extra measures of safeguard, and we will put in place arrangements such as continuous audits.Proactive fraud risk management – better fraud prevention through good programme design and strong monitoring. We use monitoring visits, financial spot checks and audits to ensure all funding is used for the purpose it was intended.Programme agreements and contracts which are designed to ensure partners are accountable for all funding we provide. We expect all international agencies to have the same zero tolerance approach to fraud that we have if they are to receive taxpayers’ money.A rigorous process of due diligence, where partners must demonstrate accountable and transparent governance structures and financial procedures before we fund them. This provides assurance on their capacity and capability to deliver DFID programmes, allows DFID to identify and understand potential risks, and ascertain if these can be mitigated and managed. Due Diligence on programme partners includes an in-depth assessment of fraud risk.Fraud awareness sessions risk management training for staff.Regular internal and external audits.Where there is suspicion of corruption and fraud DFID will always take action; and if fraud or corruption is uncovered DFID will always work to recover UK taxpayers’ money.

Overseas Aid

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the criteria is for her Department to allocate financial resources to an overseas country.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID supports delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Government’s objectives as set out in the 2015 UK Aid Strategy. Bilateral Official Development Assistance is allocated based on considerations of need, i.e. levels of poverty, ability of countries to fund themselves and whether DFID can add value. The 2016 bilateral and multilateral development reviews set out our approach to allocations in more detail. Our project design approach makes sure every project focuses on eradicating poverty, and projects are rigorously appraised to ensure value for money.

Overseas Aid

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the criteria her Department uses to assess the benefit to the UK of the allocation of Overseas Development Assistance.

Harriett Baldwin: Through our statutory commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on aid and the way that we spend money to reduce poverty, we promote UK values and influence in the world. We are, for example, tackling the drivers of instability and extremism, stopping infectious disease from reaching our shores, and building prosperity in our trading partners of the future. All UK aid is in the national interest. Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) must be spent in compliance with the eligibility criteria set out by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC). DFID strives to ensure that each project on which we spend British taxpayers’ money contributes both to reducing poverty in developing countries and to the UK national interest, which is defined as a combination of health, security, prosperity and influence. DFID officials are expected to demonstrate the benefit to the UK when seeking approval for new programmes.

Global Financing Facility

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the total amount of money is that the UK Government has provided towards funding the Global Financing Facility.

Alistair Burt: At the Global Financing Facility (GFF) replenishment on 6 November the UK pledged an additional £50m over 3 years from 2020. This is in addition to the £30m already pledged at last year’s Family Planning Summit in London. Our 2020 funding will be released on achievement of a set of reforms agreed between the UK and the GFF. This funding will increase domestic and private sector resources for child, adolescent and women’s health and nutrition.

Developing Countries: Disasters

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on allocating additional resources to disaster preparedness and resilience; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: DFID is committed to taking early action to help the most vulnerable prepare for shocks and access support when disaster strikes. Investing in building the resilience of countries, communities, and people can save lives, protect livelihoods, safeguard development gains, and help UK aid money go further. DFID’s flagship £140 million “Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters” programme is directly supporting 5 million people across the Sahel, East Africa and South Asia. DFID has also mainstreamed resilience across its work. This means that supporting countries and communities to better prepare for disasters is at the core of all our development and humanitarian programmes. DFID’s new £15 million “Maintaining Essential Services After Natural Disasters” programme is an example of how we are building the evidence base so that our programmes can assist Governments and communities to better manage shocks and to cope with crises.

South Sudan: Overseas Aid

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much Official Development Assistance her Department plans to allocate to South Sudan in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development has allocated £164.6m of Official Development Assistance for direct expenditure in South Sudan in the 2018-19 financial year. Funding has yet to be allocated for the 2019-20 financial year.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to provide additional funding to tackle climate change in developing countries beyond the £5.8 billion allocated between 2016 and 2021.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK Government is delivering the £5.8 billion of climate finance we pledged to provide between 2016 and 2021, and we are committed to ensuring we use this funding to best effect. Since 2011 we have supported 47 million people to cope with the effects of climate change, and 17 million to access clean energy. The Government is playing a strong role in ensuring developed countries fulfil the collective commitment to mobilise $100 billion in climate finance by 2020 from public and private sources. For DFID a key part of this is working with the multilateral agencies which DFID funds, most notably the World Bank and Regional Development Banks, so that they make their best contribution to tackling climate change effectively.

Climate Change Convention

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations her Department plans to make on climate change at the UN COP24 Climate Change conference taking place in Katowice, 2-14 December 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: Members of my department will be joining the UK delegation for the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24). This is where the world must finalise the rules to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement as we have all committed to do, and raise our collective climate ambition further. The UK will once again be holding a number of events, including one to highlight the important work we are leading to increase global action on resilience ahead of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in 2019.

Department for Education

Pupil Exclusions: Communication Skills

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that children who are (a) excluded from school and (b) at risk of being excluded from school are assessed by a speech and language therapist to determine if they have a speech, language and communication need.

Nick Gibb: The Government recognises the importance of early assessment and identification of pupil needs. The 2015 special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice sets out high expectations of schools and colleges about how they identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND, including those with speech, language and communication needs. Schools should work closely with their local authority, and other providers, to commission specialist services directly, such as speech and language therapists.The Department’s statutory guidance on exclusions is clear that schools should take appropriate steps to address the underlying causes of poor behaviour, which could include pupils’ SEND. This should include an assessment of whether appropriate provision is in place to support any SEND that a pupil may have to avoid exclusion, and that schools should consider the use of a multi-agency assessment. The full guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion.For children who have been permanently excluded, the Department’s statutory guidance on alternative provision (AP) sets out that commissioners of AP should recognise any issues or barriers experienced by these pupils and carry out a thorough assessment of their needs. The full guidance can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision.

Children and Young People: Communication Skills

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on developing a new self-evaluation tool for commissioners of services for children and young people who have speech, language and communication needs.

Nadhim Zahawi: We have not had any recent discussions with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care about specific plans to develop a self-evaluation tool for commissioners of services for children and young people who have speech, language and communication needs. However, officials are in regular contact and we continue to work together to improve outcomes for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. In our joint response to the ‘Bercow: Ten Years On’ report we outlined a number of commitments to ensure that these children and young people receive the support they need.We are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to establish a System Leadership Board for special educational needs and disabilities, which will focus on improving joint commissioning and working between education, health and social care partners at a local level. We will ensure that the board listens to the views of those with expertise in speech, language and communication.

Pupil Exclusions

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2018 to Question 190480 on Pupil Exclusions, what steps Ofsted would undertake in the event that during a (a) section 5 school inspection or (b) joint Ofsted and Care Quality Commission inspection it found evidence of unlawful practice in relation to school exclusions; and who such evidence would be reported to.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Education: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he has met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss education funding in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education meets with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer and other Cabinet ministers regularly to discuss the Department for Education agenda.

Department of Education: Brexit

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether departmental resources have been used to promote the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the amount of his Department's time that has been used to promote the Government's agreement on the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education is working with departments across government, in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union, on a programme of work on EU exit and the withdrawal agreement. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the department’s other priorities, it is not possible to give an accurate estimate of time spent specifically on EU exit work.

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations he has received from trade union representatives on school funding.

Nick Gibb: Ministers and officials at the Department meet regularly with the teacher and head teacher unions to discuss education policy, including school funding. The Department also receives regular correspondence from unions on matters related to funding. The Government remains committed to engaging constructively with the unions on this issue.

Pre-school Education: Free School Meals

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department last conducted a review of the cost of universal infant free school meals and; and what the timeframe is for his Department to conduct another review of that policy.

Nadhim Zahawi: The £2.30 per meal rate that we provide to schools to fund universal infant free school meals was set at the last spending review in 2015. The rate is based on the School Food Trust’s survey estimate of the average cost of a primary school meal, and on discussion with stakeholders and school food experts.Decisions about school funding beyond 2020 will be taken at the next spending review in 2019.

Free School Meals

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of the £2.30 awarded for free school meals is spent on (a) food and (b) labour.

Nadhim Zahawi: For universal infant free school meals, the £2.30 per meal rate is provided to schools via a direct grant. This covers the cost of raw materials as well as other fixed costs associated with providing the meals.It is for schools to decide how to allocate their budgets in order to provide these meals.

Special Educational Needs

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils are listed in the school census as (a) receiving SEN support and (b) being subject to a statement of SEN or Education Health and Care Plan in each year from 2015 to 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: We publish the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs including the type of need in the department's collection 'Statistics: special educational needs (SEN)':https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen.

Special Educational Needs: Pre-school Education

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has has made of the adequacy of provision of services for children with special educational needs and disabilities in nursery schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: Maintained nursery schools (MNS) make a valuable contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children, including those with all levels of special educational needs and disability (SEND). Many of them have specialist SEND expertise.We have a range of measures in place to ensure that the right support can be put in place for children with SEND and that all nursery providers, including MNS, are able to access this through their local authorities. Our Disability Access Fund is worth £615 per eligible child per year, and there is also a requirement that local authorities establish a SEN Inclusion Fund to ensure children with SEND get the best from the free childcare entitlements. Furthermore, our National Funding Formula has an additional needs factor which directs more funding to local authorities with more need.

Higher Education: Admissions

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding in The Sutton Trust's report, The Lost Part-Timers, published in March 2018 that there has been a decline in the number of (a) part-time and (b) mature students in higher education, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the reasons for those declines.

Anne Milton: The government recognises that studying part-time and later in life can bring considerable benefits for individuals, employers and the wider economy. The Review of Post-18 Education and Funding will look, as part of its broad remit, at how we can encourage learning that is more flexible, like part-time, distance learning and commuter study options.In order for everyone to benefit from higher education (HE), we have adopted a number of measures to support part-time and mature students and this academic year, part-time students will - for the first time ever - be able to access full-time equivalent maintenance loans.Evidence also shows that shorter degree courses appeal particularly to mature students who want to retrain and enter the workplace more quickly than a traditional course would permit. The government recently published its consultation response on proposed fee cap increases for accelerated degrees through a change in regulations. We believe this will incentivise expanded provision by more providers of a greater range of accelerated degree subjects, allowing both more students and providers to realise the benefits of this form of study.Furthermore, the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 established the Office for Students (OfS), as a regulator of HE in England. The act placed a general duty on the OfS in performing its functions, to have regard to the need to promote greater choice in the provision of HE. This choice includes the means of provision, such as part-time or distance learning. The OfS targets an element of the Teaching Grant to recognise the additional costs of part-time study. £72 million was made available in academic year 2017/18 and the same amount was allocated in academic year 2018/19, for this purpose.Within my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s guidance, we have also asked the OfS and the Director for Fair Access and Participation to encourage providers to consider the different barriers that mature learners can face in their Access and Participation Plans. This covers access to, success in, as well as progress from HE.

Schools: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools will not receive a cash-terms increase in their budget per pupil in 2018-19.

Nick Gibb: The national funding formula (NFF) has allocated an increase for every pupil in every school in 2018-19, with up to 3% increases for underfunded schools.Local authorities remain responsible for setting school budgets at a local level, so schools may not always receive the per pupil increase in funding they are allocated through the NFF.The Department will shortly publish details of the actual budgets set for schools by local authorities in 2018-19.

Further Education: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide adequate funding to ensure the sustainability of further education colleges.

Anne Milton: We have protected the base rate of funding for 16 to 19 year olds for all types of providers until the end of the current spending review period in 2020. We have been allocated £1.5 billion for the Adult Education Budget for each year of the 2015 spending review period, up to 2020, to engage adults to participate and develop the skills and learning that they need up to level 3 to equip them for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. Since 2016, we have made over £330 million available to support major college restructuring, supporting significant improvements to financial sustainability in the sector. We are currently considering the final applications for the Restructuring Facility and expect the final figure to rise significantly before the programme ends in March 2019. We are actively exploring the funding and resilience of further education and will be assessing how far existing and forecast funding and regulatory structures enable high quality provision. This work will align closely with the Post-18 Funding Review, in particular, to ensure a coherent vision for further and higher education. As with other areas of departmental spending, further education funding from 2020 onwards will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.

Autism: Special Educational Needs

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to reduce the time taken for autistic children to receive a statement of special educational needs.

Nadhim Zahawi: All local authorities in England are required to follow the guidance set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 years: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25.This requires them to meet a statutory deadline of 20 weeks for completion of an Education, Health and Care plan from the time that they receive a request for an assessment. This applies to all children and young people, including those on the autism spectrum.

Knives: Crime

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding of the British Medical Journal's report, Temporal and geographic patterns of stab injuries in young people: a retrospective cohort study from a UK major trauma centre, published on 6 November 2018, that children under 16 are at the highest risk of being stabbed when going home from school, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of staggering school leaving times to reduce incidents of knife crime between children.

Nadhim Zahawi: All schools have the autonomy to decide the structure and duration of their school day, which includes the flexibility to decide when their school day should start and finish.The department has not made an assessment of these decisions taken by individual schools. We trust head teachers to decide how best to structure their school day to support their pupils’ education.There are no specific legal requirements setting out how long each individual school day should be. Governing bodies of all maintained schools in England are responsible for deciding when each school day should begin and end. The duration of the school day in academies is the responsibility of the academy trust.In the event that a school decides to make changes to its school day, it is our expectation that the school should act reasonably; giving parents notice and considering those affected, including pupils, teachers, and parents.The department has made clear to schools that they have the power to discipline pupils for misbehaviour that occurs outside of the school premises. The school behaviour policy should set out what action the school will take in response to non-criminal misbehaviour off the school premises.Any form of violence in schools is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated. The school behaviour policy should set out how poor behaviour, including incidents of violence, is dealt with. While the department expects schools to take immediate and robust action if incidents of violence occur, any decision on how to punish the pupil involved is a matter for the school. Should the incident constitute a criminal offence, the school should report it to the police.Knife crime has devastating consequences on society, which is why this government is working hard to tackle it and protect our children, families and communities through the Serious Violence Strategy.Schools must be safe places for pupils and we have strengthened teachers’ powers so they can take action if they suspect a pupil has brought a prohibited item, including knives, into school.Alongside the government’s national #knifefree campaign, we have also created resources for schools so they can teach young people about the dangers of knife crime.We have worked with the Home Office and other key stakeholders, including the Police, Ofsted and the Health and Safety Executive, to produce new school security guidance, which includes reference to knife crime.The department published its draft guidance and launched a public consultation on 26 November 2018 which will run until 18 February 2019. Both documents can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/school-security-draft-guidance.

Schools: Warrington North

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in the Warrington North constituency will receive a cash increase in their budget per pupil for 2019-20.

Nick Gibb: For the period of 2019-20, all schools will attract gains through the national funding formula in pupil-led funding of at least 1% per pupil, compared to their baselines for the period of 2017-18. Final allocations for individual schools will be set according to the local schools formula, which is yet to be determined by the local authority.

Children: Nutrition

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department issues on nutrition in packed lunches.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government supports measures to ensure that children eat a healthy, nutritious meal at lunchtime. This is why we set out, through legislation, the minimum standards for food provided by schools.It is ultimately for schools to set their own packed lunch policies. Schools must act reasonably in setting such policies and we would expect schools to consider pupils’ medical, dietary and cultural needs accordingly. We also expect that schools will consult with parents, setting out their objectives, gaining their support and giving proper consideration to any difficulties when setting their packed lunch policies.

Schools: Refugees

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support the integration of refugee children that attend schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: Schools are responsible for ensuring that all of their pupils, irrespective of their ethnicity and background, are engaged, challenged and have opportunity to achieve their full academic potential. Such children and young people may be diverse in terms of their country of origin, how long they have been in England and their previous experiences of formal education – so individual schools will be best placed to determine how to integrate pupils with refugee status most effectively into the life of the school.Head teachers have flexibility in how they use the funding allocated to their schools in order to support and address the specific needs of their pupils – including those who are refugees (or seeking asylum). Refugee children may have English language development needs. Through the new national funding formula (NFF) for schools, which was introduced in April 2018, schools are allocated funding for pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) who have been in the school system in England for up to three years. The funding equates to an additional £515 per primary school pupil and an additional £1,385 per secondary school pupil by the time the formula is fully implemented. The mobility factor in the NFF also directs funding to schools in which more than 10% of pupils joined the school mid-way through the academic year.Where appropriate, schools can also use their pupil premium funding to support refugee pupils who are classed as disadvantaged, or who are currently or have previously been in local authority care.Unaccompanied asylum seeking children who arrive in the UK become looked-after children and therefore will be safeguarded and have their welfare promoted in the same way as any other looked-after child. Such children will have a Personal Education Plan, and social workers, Virtual School Heads (VSH) and Independent Reviewing Officers, school admission officers and special educational needs departments will work together to ensure that appropriate education provision for the child is arranged. The department has contributed £1.3 million through the Controlling Migration Fund over two years to fund eight diverse local authorities in providing better access to initial assessment and education for unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The local authorities will also use their delivery models to develop resources for this vulnerable cohort of looked-after children that can be easily shared with and used by other local authorities facing similar challenges. We are working with the VSH Network to support the development of the tools and resources as well as good practice examples and case studies of effective support, which are being cascaded through the VSH Network to all other local authorities looking after unaccompanied and refugee children.

Department of Education: Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has issued contracts in the last two years that do not include provisions to impose that any payment due from the contracting authority to the contractor under the contract is to be made no later than 30 days from the date on which the relevant invoice is regarded as valid and undisputed as required by the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

Nick Gibb: The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.However, all of the Department’s model contracts contain clauses which require the Department to pay invoices within 30 days of receipt. Any correctly submitted invoice that is not paid within 30 days will be subject to the provisions of the Late Payment of Commercial Debt (Interest) Act (1998).

Overseas Students: Finance

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether confirmation on funding availability for EU students accessing 16-19 provision for the 2019-20 academic year will be published prior to the publication of funding guidance in March 2019.

Anne Milton: In order to be eligible for funding for 16-19 education and training, a student must have the legal right to be resident in the United Kingdom at the start of their study programme. Any student, including EU students, who are legally resident in the UK at the start of their course in the academic year 2019 to 2020 will continue to be eligible for funding for the duration of their course.

Teachers: North West

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in (a) Salford, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) the North West Region are on the (a) upper, (b) leading practitioner and (c) leadership pay ranges.

Nick Gibb: The attached table provides the number and proportion of full and part-time regular teachers in service in state funded schools who are paid on the upper, leading practitioner and leadership pay ranges for Salford, Greater Manchester and the North West Region and in England in November 2017.Figures for teachers on the main pay scale have been provided for context.



197448_Number _and_proportion_of_teachers_in_servi
(PDF Document, 403.86 KB)

Ministry of Justice

CAFCASS: Domestic Violence

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on the involvement of the Children and Family Care Advisory and Support Service in cases where there is a previous conviction of domestic violence.

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the involvement of the Child and Family Court Advisory and Family Support Service does not inadvertently support the perpetration of domestic violence.

Lucy Frazer: The welfare of the child is paramount in all court desicions about a child's upbringing.The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has a statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children involved in proceedings and undertakes safeguarding checks in every case where a parent seeks the child arrangements order to live with or spend time with a child. These checks include enquiries to local authority and police. Convictions or cautions that may be relevant to a risk of harm or further harm to the child are reported by Cafcass to the court prior to the first hearing to support safe decision-making. Cafcass also has a freestanding statutory duty to report to the court on any risks identified at any other stage during proceedings.Cafcass has developed Domestic Abuse Practice Pathway and recently launched Child Impact Assesment Framework to provide its practitioners with additional tools to assess the impact of domestic abuse and inform its recommendations to the court about child arrangements.

Treasury

Mortgages

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what equality impact assessments his Department has made of the provisions in buy to let mortgages to exclude the property from being let to tenants in receipt of benefits.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations his Department has made of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in relation to exclusory conditions in that company's Buy To Let mortgages that prevent properties from being let to tenants in receipt of benefits.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban provisions in buy to let mortgages that exclude properties from being let to tenants in receipt of benefits.

John Glen: Decisions around the availability of Buy-to-Let mortgages, including any restrictions, are commercial decisions for lenders, and the Government does not seek to intervene in these decisions. We are aware that some lenders include restrictions in their mortgage terms that mean the properties against which they lend are not available to tenants who depend on welfare payments to meet the rental costs. UK Finance has assured us, however, that the majority of active Buy-to-Let lenders do not prevent landlords leasing properties to tenants in receipt of welfare payments. Therefore, any landlord who wants to let to benefit claimants should be able to easily find a lender who will allow that. The Royal Bank of Scotland, which operates the restriction for landlords with fewer than ten properties, has also announced that it will be conducting a review of its Buy-to-Let policies. It is also worth noting that only around one third of properties in the private rental sector are owned by Buy-to-Let landlords. The majority are owned outright or financed through other means.

Electronic Publishing: VAT

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the application of VAT to e-publications does not disadvantage readers who rely on accessible and portable digital content.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the cost to public institutions of the level of VAT on digital (a) books, (b) magazines and (c) newspapers in the last (i) year and (ii) five years.

Mel Stride: The Government keeps all taxes under review, including Value Added Tax (VAT) on e-publications.In line with our legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, ministers carefully consider the impacts for individuals with protected characteristics when developing policy.HMRC does not hold detailed information about the VAT paid on specific products by government departments, public institutions or private entities.

Inheritance Tax

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the Office of Tax Simplification's November 2018 report on inheritance tax.

Mel Stride: The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has split their review of inheritance tax into two reports. The report that was published in November covered administrative issues. The second report will be published in spring, and will cover wider technical and policy issues. Once the second report is published, the government will respond to the recommendations the OTS has made.

Child Benefit: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 54 of the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, how many EU nationals (a) currently living in the UK and (b) expected to be living in the UK over the next 15 years qualify for child benefit support; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that provision.

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-UK EU nationals living in the UK that are in receipt of child benefit have children that (a) are and (b) are not resident in the UK; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of those claims.

Elizabeth Truss: For 2015-2016, the most recent year for which data is available, 572,000 non-UK EU nationals were in receipt of Child Benefit and total entitlement for these non-UK EU nationals was £879 million. The number of non-UK EU nationals expected to be living in the UK over the next 15 years that qualify for Child Benefit could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Information relating to the number and cost of non-UK EU nationals claiming for children who are and are not resident in the UK can only be made available at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

World War I: Anniversaries

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to commemorate the Chinese men recruited to provide front-line support for British soldiers in the World War I.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: For the past four years of the First World War centenary, we have supported a number of projects that have highlighted the contribution of the Chinese Labour Corps. We supported the ‘Unremembered Project’, which recognised the contribution made by labour corps from across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and this included a focus on the Chinese Labour Corps. We also supported the Meridian Society to work in schools and communities to highlight the almost 100,000 men recruited by Britain to provide essential logistical support in Europe. Currently, we are also supporting the  ‘Ensuring We Remember ’ campaign, to create a permanent memorial in central London, to be unveiled in 2019. This memorial is backed by the Chinese in Britain Forum and the Chinese embassy.

Bus Services: Finance

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funds for the new powers to bring about change and unlock the potential for the bus industry to achieve more for passengers as set out in the Bus Services Act 2017.

Rishi Sunak: The Secretary of State meets with ministers, including HMT ministers, regularly to discuss a range of issues relating to local government. Local authorities in England outside London spend over £1 billion a year on bus services. Over the five year period from 2015-16 to 2019-20 councils will have access to more than £200 billion, after the Autumn 2018 budget.

Social Rented Housing: Regulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on the creation of an independent regulator of social housing.

Kit Malthouse: The Regulator of Social Housing became a standalone organisation on 1 October 2018. This was delivered through the Legislative Reform (Regulator of Social Housing) (England) Order 2018.

Planning Permission: Appeals

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish his Department's response to the Independent review of planning appeal inquiries: call for evidence.

James Brokenshire: Bridget Rosewell is due to report the findings of her review by the end of 2018 and we will publish the report in early 2019.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Roads

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what planning protections are in place to prevent inappropriate road developments in areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Kit Malthouse: The Government recognises that it is important to strike a balance between enabling development and growth whilst continuing to protect and enhance the natural environment. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that when producing plans and development proposals, the environmental impacts of traffic and transport infrastructure, including road developments, should be identified, assessed and taken into account. This should include taking appropriate opportunities to avoid and mitigate any adverse effects.   The Framework also sets out that great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Housing

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what planning protections are in place to prevent inappropriate housing developments in areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Kit Malthouse: The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues. The scale and extent of development within these designated areas should be limited. Planning permission should be refused for major development other than in exceptional circumstances, and where it can be demonstrated that the development is in the public interest.

Ministry of Defence

Nuclear Disarmament

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on meeting the commitment in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published in 2010, to reduce the UK's nuclear warhead stockpile ceiling from not more than 225 to not more than 180 by the mid 2020s.

Gavin Williamson: Holding answer received on 30 November 2018



We continue to keep our nuclear posture under constant review in the light of the international security environment and the actions of potential adversaries.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Navy

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the Royal Navy's nuclear (a) armed and (b) powered surface or submarine vessels have entered the waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory since the Marine Protected Area was established.

Mark Lancaster: The Royal Navy only operates nuclear powered submarines, some of which are nuclear armed. It is UK policy that we do not routinely comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations. However, as previously confirmed HMS Trenchant visited Diego Garcia in 2012.

Argentina: Wrecks

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if the Royal Navy will assist in the recovery and repatriation of Argentinian sailors from the submarine San Juan.

Mark Lancaster: Since the San Juan was located, the Ministry of Defence has not been appraoched by Argentina to assist in the recovery or repatriarion of the submarine's crew. If our assistance were to be requested, the UK does not currently have the capability to recover a vessel at the reported depth of the San Juan without contractor support.

Middlewick Ranges

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will (a) pause the proposal to dispose of Middlewick Ranges at Colchester and (b) re-evaluate the operational efficiency of the armed forces in the East of England in the event that Middlewick Ranges is no longer available as a training facility for both regular and reserve forces; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence announced its intention to close Middlewick Ranges in the estate optimisation strategy " A Better Defence Estate " in November 2016. The basis of the original decision and assesment still stands. The existing range nearby at Fingringhoe, Colchester, will be developed to provide a suitable alternative with no associated inpact on training or operational effectiveness.

Babcock International: Colchester

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he had with the operators of the defence repair facility at Colchester in advance of that operator's announcement of its intention to close its vehicle repair workshops at that location; what further discussions he has had with that operator since that announcement was made; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the proposal by the company operating the former Defence Support Group workshops at Colchester to shut that site comply with the requirements placed on that company by his Department when that asset was privatised; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Planned changes outlined in the Better Defence Estate Strategy, published in November 2016, have led to the decision by Babcock to transfer the repair functions from Colchester to other locations, with the creation of In-barracks equipment support teams. Discussions routinely take place between the Ministry of Defence and Babcock as part of the Service Provision and Transformation Contract. There is no contractual obligation on Babcock to maintain a prescribed geographical footprint when delivering the repair function, therefore the withdrawl is compliant with this contract.

Babcock International: Colchester

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made on the effect on the operational efficiency of armed forces in the event that the vehicle repair workshops at Colchester are closed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Army expects there to be no operational impact from the decision by Babcock to transfer their vehicle repair functions from Colchester to other locations. Work undertaken at the site will be provided by alternative Babcock facilities and the creation of in-Barracks equipment support teams.

Fingringhoe Ranges

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of reconfiguring the layout of the Fingringhoe Ranges near Colchester to accommodate the firing training capacity of the Middlewick Ranges at Colchester; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his plans to reconfigure the layout of the Fingringhoe Ranges near Colchester will provide (a) the same, (b) less or (c) more training facilities than the combined total of those facilities currently available at both Fingringhoe Ranges and Middlewick Ranges at Colchester; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The work to reconfigure the layout of Fingringhoe Ranges near Colchester, once completed, will provide the same training facilities that are currently available at both Fingringhoe and Middlewick Ranges and will be completed prior to closure. I am withholding the information in relation to the cost to the public purse as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.

Defence Medical Services: Staff

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2018 to Question 184831 on Armed Forces: Mental Health Services, when he plans to provide verified figures of the number of non-permanent staff employed by Defence Medical Services in mental health care roles at the end of each financial year since 2011; and what the shortfall in FTE in the number of permanent staff employed by Defence Medical Services against total posts in the roles of (a) psychiatrists, (b) psychologists, (c) mental health nurses and (d) social workers was at the end of each financial year since 2011.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The attached table shows the number of Temporary Healthcare Workers (non-permanent staff) employed by the Defence Medical Services (DMS) in Mental Healthcare (MH) roles at the end of each Financial Year (FY) since 2011.



195457 - Armed Forces Mental Health Services
(Word Document, 28.19 KB)

Service Complaints Ombudsman

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Service Complaints Ombudsman is a member of the Service Justice Board; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) staff were employed as investigation officers, (b) investigations were current and (c) investigations were awaiting allocation to an investigation officer in the office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman in each quarter since January 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what budget is available each year to the office of the Armed Forces Ombudsman to access legal advice from (a) the Government's legal service, (b) his Department's legal services and (c) independent legal services; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Service Justice Board concerns itself with ensuring that the Service Justice System provides a fair system of justice for those who are alleged to have breached Service Law, and that the system is also able to support the Chain of Command in delivering operational effectiveness; the Service Complaints Ombudsman is not a member. The Service Complaints Ombudsman is provided with an annual budget from defence funds which, under the financial delegation given to her, is used to meet all the costs associated with her independent function; this includes the procurement of any legal advice. The amount spent by the Ombudsman’s office on legal advice varies year on year, and is detailed in the financial expenditure statements in her annual reports to Parliament on the fairness, effectiveness and efficiency of the Service Complaints system. These reports – and those submitted by the Service Complaints Commissioner, can be found at the following address: http://www.servicecomplaintsombudsman.org.uk/service-complaints-ombudsman/publications-and-reports/annual-reports/. The Annual Report for 2018 will be available in the first quarter of 2019. It will take time to collate the detailed information requested on investigation officers and I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

Iraq: NATO

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the NATO training mission in Iraq.

Mark Lancaster: The UK welcomed the launch of the NATO Training Mission Iraq at the Brussels Summit in 2018. We are commited to supporting the training mission through the deployment of the UK civilian and military personnel including a senior civilian adviser and other personnel as part of the NATO Communications and Information Systems Support Group, on rotation with other allies.

Defence Equipment and Support: Pay

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the resources used to calculate the market benchmarks for the new pay structure for Defence Equipment and Support employees that began in April 2017 were taken from the sum allocated for pay increases in 2017.

Stuart Andrew: No.

Defence Equipment and Support: Pay

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the methodology used to calculate the market benchmarks to set pay increases for Defence Equipment and Support employees.

Stuart Andrew: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 29 November 2018, to Question 195524.



195524 - Defence Equipment and Support; Pay
(Word Document, 22.06 KB)

Defence Equipment and Support: Pay

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2018 to Question 189645 on Defence Equipment and Support: Staff, what the average salary increase was for each grade Defence Equipment and Support employee in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Stuart Andrew: The average pay rise for Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) staff in 2017 was 2.3% and in 2018 it was 2.2.%. Individual salary increases are based on both market benchmarks and performance, with most increases in the 1% to 4% range. The average salary increase for each grade was: DE&S Level20172018Senior Professional4.10%3.67%Professional I2.94%2.65%Professional II2.49%2.47%Senior Administrator1.69%1.90%Administrator/Specialist1.88%1.86% The higher levels attracted higher average pay increases as their salaries were generally further behind the market benchmarks for their roles. This does not include Senior Civil Service and Military personnel employed in DE&S, which are not part of the above grading structure.

European Defence Agency: Costs

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the annual cost of the Administrative Arrangement that the Government plans to conclude with the European Defence Agency; and whether any such Arrangement would enable the UK to exert formal influence on decisions taken by that Agency, including future funding decisions.

Stuart Andrew: The size and terms of any further financial contributions would be subject to negotiations on the future relationship. An Administrative Arrangement with the Agency would enable the UK to participate in its projects and programmes where it is of mutual benefit.

EU Defence Policy

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his EU counterpart on the UK's participation in European Union Permanent Structured Cooperation projects after the UK leaves the EU.

Mark Lancaster: Ministry of Defence Ministers discuss a range of issues with our European counterparts including this, which was most recently discussed at the November Foreign Affairs Council (Defence). The UK supports PESCO, although we have not joined it, recognising its potential to increase European defence investment and develop capabilities to complement the work of NATO. The UK is not part of PESCO and our participation in any projects is subject to the conclusion of negotiations for third state participation.

Ministry of Defence: Equality

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's Civilian Personnel Biannual Diversity Dashboard, for what reason the answers that respondents can provide to the question on religious representation are limited to Christian, Non-Christian and secular.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Statistics on religious representation among Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian staff, as published in the MOD's 'Civilian Personnel Biannual Diversity Dashboard', are presented at an aggregate level so they can be reported clearly and reliably.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average waiting times for calls to each of her Department's benefit telephone lines were in each of the last 18 months for which data are available.

Justin Tomlinson: The table below provides the average waiting times for the benefit telephone lines for comparison with PQ141701. The information is for the most recent 18 month period in which data is available for, May 2017 to October 2018. We are aware of a potential issue, which is being investigated, whereby a call could be terminated by a customer but potentially remain in the system and continue to be recorded as a ‘live call’. This issue produces statistical anomalies which impact on the reliability of the data available. Average Speed of Answer  Last 18 MonthsOctober 2018National DLA Adult00:03:2600:04:51Employment and Support Allowance Enquiry00:15:1900:11:30Jobseekers Allowance Enquiry English00:08:5100:03:43Income Support Enquiry00:08:3800:11:07Jobcentre Enquiry Line00:06:0500:04:48Personal Independence Payment00:05:3100:06:46Universal Credit Live Service00:09:1700:16:26Universal Credit Full Service00:05:0100:03:58 The information requested regarding the shortest and longest wait time could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Please Note: Data Source: BT - OPMIS and Historical Management Information (GI2 – HMI)The data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. The data should therefore be treated with caution.

Universal Credit: Slough

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to universal credit claims in Slough, if she will make an assessment of how many (a) claims were made by EEA nationals, (b) of those claims by EEA nationals how many were refused due to residency requirements, (c) requests for mandatory reconsiderations were made by those EEA nationals and (d) of those mandatory reconsiderations were granted in favour of the claimant.

Alok Sharma: The Department does not centrally collect statistical information on claims made by nationality group and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of  claimants of tax credits that will not be eligible for universal credit as a result of the savings limit qualification.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. We have, however, made an estimate for the number of tax credit claimants with capital in excess of £16,000 likely to be managed migrated, across Great Britain, which is around 35,000. As announced on 7 June 2018, for claimants with capital exceeding £16,000 who are managed migrated onto Universal Credit by the Department, any capital which exceeds the limit will be disregarded for 12 months, which means they are entitled to Universal Credit. This protection period for claimants is contingent on parliamentary approval of the required legislation.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit sanctions have been issued to people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East in receipt of (i) jobseekers allowance, (ii) employment and support allowance and (iii) universal credit in each of the last five years.

Alok Sharma: The available information on Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and Universal Credit sanction decisions by parliamentary constituency is published and can be accessed at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html The Department publishes quarterly statistics on sanctions, including a breakdown by sanction referral reason, as part of the Benefit Sanction Statistics publication:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions We take a number of steps to make sure our decisions are fair. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence of good cause, into account before deciding whether a sanction is warranted.

Social Security Benefits: North East

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number and proportion of unemployed people who are entitled to claim (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) universal credit but are not doing so in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside and (iii) the North East.

Alok Sharma: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to PQ192726, answered on 27 November 2018.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Illness

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of successful personal independence payment applicants have a diagnosed serious mental health condition.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment claimants are diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Sarah Newton: Statistics on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim outcomes (clearances) at disability level are not readily available and have not previously been published as Official Statistics. We are producing the statistics requested and issuing them in an Official Statistics release on 11th December 2018 in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Statistics on the number of individuals in receipt of PIP payments broken down by disability are already available on Stat Xplore:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance for users is available at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 54 of the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, how many non-UK EU nationals (a) currently living in the UK and (b) expected to be living in the UK over the next 15 years will qualify for social security support from the public purse; what benefits those people will be eligible for; and what estimate he has made of the cost of providing those benefits.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 03 December 2018



The Office of National Statistics (ONS) provide data on the population of the UK by country of birth and nationality. In addition, overall population projections for the UK (though not split by nationality) are made. These can be accessed at:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/populationoftheunitedkingdombycountryofbirthandnationality https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/bulletins/nationalpopulationprojections/2016basedstatisticalbulletin The ONS estimate that there around 3.7m EU nationals living in the UK as of 2017/18. However, they do not have figures on the number of EU nationals expected to be resident in the UK in 15 years’ time. In the Political Declaration we have agreed to consider addressing social security coordination in the light of future movement of persons.

Universal Credit: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 54 of the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, how many non-UK EU nationals (a) currently living in the UK and (b) expected to be living in the UK over the next 15 years will qualify for universal credit.

Alok Sharma: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 196900 on 4 December.

Universal Credit: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department’s policy is on the sanctioning of claimants of universal credit that receive the limited capability for work element in the event of a (a) refusal of an offer of a zero-hours contract and (b) voluntary termination of a zero-hours contract.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her Department’s policy is to sanction universal credit claimants for (a) refusing and (b) voluntarily terminating a zero-hours contract.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Bereavement Benefits

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to make widowers aware of their potential entitlement to bereavement allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: From 6 April 2017 we replaced the previous suite of bereavement benefits, which included bereavement allowance, with a single benefit known as Bereavement Support Payment. The Department has worked with funeral directors, Registrars and voluntary groups to ensure that bereaved people are fully informed of the action to take following a death. Further information about the benefits to which they are entitled and how to claim them can be found on the government services and information website at www.gov.uk.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many adverse sanction decisions have been made against universal credit claimants since August 2015 in (a) Salford and Eccles constituency, (b) Salford local authority area, (c) Greater Manchester and (d) the North West.

Alok Sharma: The available information on the number of individuals sanctioned by benefit, by parliamentary constituency, local authority and region is published and can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Universal Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people at risk of experiencing debt as a result of the six-week transitory wait from legacy benefits to universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The Department has implemented a number of improvements to ensure no one has to experience hardship at the point of claim. New claimants to Universal Credit have always been able to apply for a Universal Credit Advance in their first month if they need some financial support until the first regular payment of Universal Credit is made. Following the Autumn Budget 2017, we have implemented a comprehensive and wide-ranging package of improvements worth £1.5 billion. These include making advances of up to 100% of the indicative award available (from the start of a claim) and increasing the repayment period to 12 months, removing the 7 waiting days, providing an additional payment of 2 weeks of Housing Benefit to support claimants when they transition to Universal Credit, and changing how claimants in temporary accommodation receive support for their housing costs. Additionally, advances will be able to be repaid over 16 months from October 2021. Furthermore, from July 2020, payments of Income Support and the income related elements of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made, benefitting 1.1 million households. This extra financial support is intended to help claimants in the five-week period up to their first monthly payment of Universal Credit, and will not need to be repaid.

Children: Maintenance

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of self-employed parents who are evading payment of child maintenance by diverting their income to their partner or spouse.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department has not made an estimate of the number of self-employed parents who avoid child maintenance by diverting their income through their partner or spouse. Income information for paying parents is obtained directly from HMRC. This figure will include earnings from self-employment. Where there is reason to suspect a declared income or that a parent is using self–employment as a means to avoid or reduce their maintenance liability, the case will be referred to the Financial Investigations Unit. The volume of cases which are subject to a complex earners investigation are published in Table 12 of Child Maintenance Service Statistics available on line at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-june-2018-experimental. Investigations into self-employed paying parents are a subgroup of the complex earners investigations.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Palm Oil: Sales

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to bring forward further legislative proposals to ban the sale of non-sustainable palm oil in the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK is determined to make good on commitments to support companies to implement zero-deforestation supply chains, including in respect of palm oil. Through the Amsterdam Declarations and the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, we are working with businesses and other governments to strengthen governance, promote market-based solutions and put in place incentives, policies and actions that support sustainable production of palm oil alongside forest protection. While we are not proposing to bring forward a ban, we recognise that more remains to be done and will continue to explore opportunities to improve the sustainability of palm oil production.

Non-native Species

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Natural England plans to implement new management plans under the the invasive alien species regulation for (a) Sciurus carolinensis and (b) Ondatra zibethicus.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The government will be introducing the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order to implement the EU Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Regulation (EU1143/2014). Our enforcement strategy has been designed to combat the negative effects of invasive non-native species that are listed as ‘of union concern’. Both grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) are on this list. The enforcement strategy will prohibit a number of actions relating to listed species, including their importation, keeping, and release into the environment. These restrictions are being put in place to manage the risk that these species pose to the environment, economy and human health. The Forestry Commission leads on policy and action on the grey squirrel in England, under the Grey Squirrel Action Plan, which fulfils many of the functions of a management plan. This includes Countryside Stewardship funding for landowners. Defra, in partnership with the United Kingdom Squirrel Alliance (UKSA), is also providing funding for work by the Animal and Plant Health Agency for the development of a fertility control method for grey squirrels. This research, now in its third year, continues to show promise as one potentially effective method to control grey squirrel numbers in the longer term. The muskrat is not currently present in this country meaning we have no plans to develop a management plan. The import of the muskrat is prohibited and it would be eradicated if detected.

Horses: Animal Welfare

Luke Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals on the tethering of horses.

David Rutley: Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), it is an offence to fail to provide for an animal’s welfare or to cause it any unnecessary suffering. The 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids (the Code). The Code provides owners and keepers with information on how to meet the welfare needs of their horses and includes a specific section on how to tether a horse. Local authorities have powers under the 2006 Act to investigate allegations of cruelty or poor welfare. In addition, welfare organisations such as the RPSCA and World Horse Welfare (WHW) may also investigate such matters. If anyone is concerned about the way a horse has been tethered, they should report the matter either to the relevant local authority, or to the RSPCA or WHW who can investigate. If a horse is found not to be tethered appropriately, it could lead to a prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. I therefore consider that there is legislation and guidance in place in respect of tethering of horses.

Animal Welfare

Luke Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on how many local authorities have not appointed animal welfare inspectors with training to enforce the Animal Welfare Act 2006 with respect to equine welfare.

David Rutley: Defra does not hold records of how many local authorities have not appointed or trained inspectors to enforce equine welfare issues. Local authorities are required to enforce The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 which includes the licensing of businesses that hire out horses for riding or instruction in riding and which requires inspectors to be suitably qualified. We would expect most local authorities, therefore, to have inspectors trained in enforcing equine welfare more generally.

Animal Welfare

Luke Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department are taking are to encourage local authorities to appoint animal welfare inspectors.

David Rutley: Defra does not hold records of how many local authorities have not appointed or trained inspectors to enforce equine welfare issues. Local authorities are required to enforce The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 which includes the licensing of businesses that hire out horses for riding or instruction in riding and which requires inspectors to be suitably qualified. We would expect most local authorities, therefore, to have inspectors trained in enforcing equine welfare more generally.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 190943, for what reasons that answer did not specify the number of non-disclosure agreements his Department has with private sector organisations; and if he will make available to hon. Members information on (a) the number of and (b) which companies have entered into such non-disclosure agreements.

David Rutley: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 27 November to PQ 190943. The Government has non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with some private sector organisations. Confidentiality requirements are a common element of contractual obligations and are used by departments to protect commercial considerations; to reflect the sensitive nature of some discussions; and to facilitate conversations that otherwise may not have been able to take place, due to concerns around sensitive information. The requested information on the number of NDAs and the companies which have entered into NDAs is not held centrally by Defra and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Fishing Catches: Estuaries and Inland Waterways

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to eliminate the use of monofilament nets in estuaries and inshore waters; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Sea fisheries management in England’s estuaries and inshore waters is the responsibility of the Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities (IFCAs). It is for the relevant IFCA to determine the type of nets that should be used in its district.

Palm Oil

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that products containing palm oil that are sold in the UK use sustainably-produced palm oil.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government has set out its ambition in the 25 Year Environment Plan to support and protect the world’s forests, supporting sustainable agriculture and supporting zero-deforestation supply chains including for palm oil. Through the Amsterdam Declarations and the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 we are working with business and other governments to strengthen governance, promote market-based solutions and put in place incentives, policies and actions that support sustainable production of palm oil alongside forest protection. In 2012, Defra published the UK Statement on the Sustainable Production of Palm Oil which was signed by trade associations, NGOs and Government, and aimed to achieve 100% sourcing of credibly certified sustainable palm oil. The latest report from the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil indicates that based on their revised baseline data and methodology, the UK achieved 75% certified sustainable palm oil in 2017. The Roundtable has agreed to report annually on progress, and work with other signatories to the Amsterdam Declaration on increasing the uptake of sustainable palm oil. We recognise that more remains to be done and will continue to explore opportunities to improve the sustainability of palm oil production.

Birds: Conservation

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the phase two recommendations of sites qualifying in relation to bittern are (a) existing Special Protection Areas (SPA) that require reclassifying to add bittern as a feature, (b) restored reedbed habitat outside of existing SPAs and (c) newly created reedbed habitat outside of existing SPAs.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Phase two of the current review of the UK Special Protection Area (SPA) network includes a number of options to promote conservation/protection of bittern. Four existing SPAs appear to support bittern in significant numbers and which are not currently classified for bitterns. In relation to restored and newly created reedbed habitats outside of existing SPA a number of sites have been identified that could be considered for SPA classification.

Veganism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department holds information on the proportion of people in (a) England and (b) the UK who are vegan.

David Rutley: The department does not hold any information on the number or proportion of people in the UK or England who are vegan.

Medical Equipment: Cobalt

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the operation of the UK-EU medical devices supply chain of the ongoing use of cobalt in UK-manufactured medical devices in the event that the UK is no longer subject to EU REACH regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: To provide continuity for businesses in a no deal scenario, the EU Withdrawal Act copies EU legislation into UK law, including REACH, as far as possible. This means that the requirements established through these regulations will continue to apply in the UK. This includes retaining all exemptions that remain applicable, including chemicals used in medical products or equipment. By doing this we would minimise disruption to the supply in chemicals. While it would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of negotiations regarding the Future Economic Partnership, we will discuss with the EU and Member States how best to continue cooperation in chemicals regulation in the best interests of both the UK and the EU.

Air Pollution: Children

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which schemes and projects undertaken by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) government bodies not including local authorities had the purpose of reducing children’s exposure to air pollution in (i) 2018-19 (ii) 2017-18, (iii) 2016-17 and (iv) 2015-16.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stockton North, Alex Cunningham, on 27 November 2018 to PQ 192868.

Air Pollution: Children

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department provided to schemes and projects undertaken by local authorities with the purpose of reducing children’s exposure to air pollution in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2016-17 and (d) 2015-16.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Stockton North, Alex Cunningham, on 27 November 2018, PQ UIN192868.

Farmers: Finance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the Government's plans on funding for farmers who are currently in receipt of funding from the Common Agricultural Policy after 2021.

George Eustice: The Government has already outlined plans to introduce a new approach to farming support in England based on public money for public goods. The Government will maintain stability for farmers by phasing out Direct Payments in England over a seven year agricultural transition period starting in 2021. Decisions about overall levels of future funding for agriculture will be taken by the Government, drawing on representatives from the devolved administrations and will reflect the Government’s aim of securing a better future for UK agriculture and for the environment.

Fisheries

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to ensure the UK has control over fisheries policy in UK waters after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: As an independent coastal state for the first time in over 40 years, access to UK waters will be on our terms, under our control and for the benefit of UK fishermen. The Fisheries Bill includes proposals for the powers needed as a coastal state. This includes powers for the UK Government and devolved administrations to implement international agreements reached on access to UK waters, and to set fishing opportunities (principally quota).

Food: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) Ayrshire Earlies, (b) Forfar Bridies, (c) Ayrshire Dunlop, (d) Orkney Cheddar, (e) Stornoway black pudding, (f) Scottish wild salmon, (g) Scottish farmed salmon, (h) native Shetland wool, (i) Scottish lamb, (j) Scottish beef, (k) Arbroath smokies, (l) Teviotdale cheese, (m) Shetland lamb, (n) Orkney beef and (o) Orkney lamb will continue to be protected by either (i) Protected Designation of Origin, (ii) Protected Geographical Indication and (iii) Traditional Speciality Guaranteed provisions after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: The UK Government recognises the economic and cultural importance of geographical indications (GIs) to Scotland.The UK will establish its own GI schemes at the point at which EU law ceases to apply in the UK. These will provide a clear and simple set of rules on GIs. The new UK framework will comply with and go beyond the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). This will ensure that UK GIs enjoy continued protection in the UK after we leave the EU.Under the Withdrawal Agreement, all current UK GIs will continue to be protected in the EU during the implementation period. We anticipate that UK GIs will continue to be protected in the EU at the point at which EU law ceases to apply in the UK.

Aarhus Convention

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to maintain compliance with the Aarhus convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters after the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Yes.

Marine Environment

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the at-sea and aerial capability that will be required for marine control and enforcement after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Control and enforcement is a devolved matter. As such, it will continue to be for each devolved administration to decide how best to control its waters, and what new arrangements may be needed. In England, the Marine Management Organisation has assessed the levels of enforcement capacity required and the options best delivering this. An increase in the number of personnel and surveillance assets relating to fisheries protection will be in place when we leave the EU.

Marine Management Organisation: Staff

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how long on average the (a) recruitment and (b) training of each marine enforcement officer has taken in the latest period for which figures are available.

George Eustice: Fisheries management is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Information on the average time taken to recruit a Marine Enforcement Officer is not held and this can depend on a number of factors, including the location of and number of posts available at a particular time and the recruitment process undertaken. Based on the current recruitment model, on average, it takes between 10-12 weeks to recruit for these positions. On average it takes between 4-12 months to become a fully warranted officer. Continual professional development is then undertaken. The training methodology is adaptable, and alternative models can be deployed in instances where there is a need to train a number of new entrants in a short period of time.

Air Pollution: Educational Institutions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to make a comparative assessment of air quality in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) universities and (d) other educational environments.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We do not make comparative assessment for individual buildings and establishments. However, we have provided local authorities with statutory duties and powers to review and assess local air quality and declare Air Quality Management Areas where necessary. The local authorities can put in place action plans to clean up the local air.

Home Office

Home Office: Disclosure of Information

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-disclosure agreements his Department has signed with employees in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Victoria Atkins: This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. A search of personnel records is required to retrieve this information.

Domestic Violence: Criminal Investigation

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of reported domestic abuse cases in which the police responded with a scheduled appointment rather than an urgent response in the last 12 months.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold the information requested centrally.On the 22 November, the Office for National Statistics published Domestic abuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2018. This bulletin collates information from across Government as well domestic abuse service providers to provide information on how domestic abuse is dealt with at the local level within England and Wales.The publication can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/domesticabuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2018

Fire and Rescue Services: Pensions

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent reduction in the discount rate for public service pension schemes on the financial stability of fire services.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government proposed a change to the discount rate in September. This change was confirmed at the Budget in October. Provisional valuation results suggest employers will need to pay more into schemes from 2019/20.At the Budget, the Treasury allocated extra funding to the reserve for 2019/20 to cover the unexpected additional costs arising from this change to the discount rate, including for fire. Provisional results indicate fire will pay an additional £10 million next year.Fire services have the resources to do their work. At March 2018 the standalone FRAs held £545 million in reserves, equivalent to 42 percent of the core spending power.

Phil Gormley

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the vetting and recruitment process for the appointment of Phil Gormley as the new HM Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services included the investigation of any (a) previous involvement in the (i) official and (ii) unofficial approval of relationships between undercover police officer Mark Kennedy and the subjects of police surveillance and (b)(i) public and (ii) unpublished statements by Mr Gormley about his knowledge of those relationships; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: HM Inspector (HMI) positions are Crown appointments.The recruitment process for all HMI roles is conducted in line with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments. HMIs are appointed by HM The Queen, on the recommendation of the Home Secretary to the Prime Minister

Police: Crimes of Violence

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers faced gross misconduct hearings by their force after they were acquitted of (a) grievous bodily harm or (b) actual bodily harm at a trial; and what proportion of those officers received sanctions of (i) dismissal without notice; (ii) dismissal with notice; (iii) final written warning; (iv) written warning and (v) management advice in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold the information requested centrally.The Home Office collects and publishes information on the outcomes of mis-conduct meetings, misconduct hearings and criminal investigations in the police service, following a public complaint or internal conduct allegation. These data were first collected for the 2015/16 financial period. The Home Office does not collect any information on the incident or reasons that led to a misconduct matter arising.Data on the outcomes of misconduct meetings, hearings, and criminal investigations in 2016/17 can be found in the misconduct section of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-workforce-england-and-wales-30-september-2017Table 5 and 6 of the accompanying Data Tables provide information on outcomes of misconduct hearings and special case hearings, which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/675791/police-workforce-misconduct-tables-jan17.ods

Home Office: Interpreters

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many translators his Department (a) employed directly and (b) procured to work under contract in the last 12 months for which information is available; and what languages those translators spoke.

Victoria Atkins: Part (a)No translators (i.e. people who work with written words) are employed directly.Part (b)297 translators were provided in the last 12 months for the following languages:AlbanianAmharic ArabicArabic (Egypt) Arabic (Syria) BengaliBengali (Bangladesh) Bengali (India) BulgarianChinese (Hong Kong)Chinese (PRC) Chinese (Simplified)Croatian Czech Dari - Farsi (Afghan) DutchEnglishEstonianFarsi (Persian) FlemishFrenchFrench BelgianGeorgianGermanGerman (Austria) GreekGujarati HindiHungarianIndonesian ItalianJapanese Korean KurdishLatvianLithuanianMacedonianPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiPunjabi (Gurmukhi) RomanianRussianSinhaleseSlovakSloveneSomaliSpanishSpanish Latin AmericaSwahili Swedish (Sweden)Tagalog TamilThai TigrinyaTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelsh

Lutfur Rahman

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings his predecessors had with the Metropolitan police on (a) investigating and (b) prosecuting Lutfur Rahman for (i) voter fraud and (ii) other criminal offences relating to his former role as elected executive mayor of the London borough of Tower Hamlets after he was named in an election petition in June 2014.

Mr Nick Hurd: There have been no Ministerial meetings with the Metropolitan Police Service concerning this case.Decisions to investigate and / or subsequently prosecute an individual are operational decisions for the respective police force and Crown Prosecution Service to make. It would therefore not be appropriate for Ministers to comment on such matters.

Windrush Generation: Children

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children of Windrush generation immigrants have an immigration case review (a) pending and (b) that has been completed.

Caroline Nokes: At the HASC evidence session on Tuesday 15 May, the Home Secretary committed to providing the HASC with regular updates on the work of the department in relation to Windrush. The most recent update was published on 12 November 2018.The number of ‘live’ applications is subject to change on a frequent basis as applications are received and concluded daily. Data would only be accurate at the time it was generated, with any Answer potentially being inaccurate at the time of release. Providing a running commentary on the breakdown of cases would not be cost and resource effective.

Windrush Generation: Children

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children of Windrush generation immigrants have been deported; and of those how many have died since their deportation.

Caroline Nokes: The department does not hold this information.On 16 April, the Home Office established a Taskforce to ensure that mem-bers of the Windrush generation were able to evidence their right to be in the UK. Subsequently, on 24 May the Home Secretary laid a Written Ministerial Statement setting out the Windrush Scheme, which ensures that members of this generation, their children born in the UK and those who arrived in the UK as minors will be able to apply to the Taskforce for citizenship, or various other immigration products, free of charge.The scheme came into force on 30 May.The Department has provided an update on its response to the problems affecting members of the Windrush generation to the Home Affairs Select Committee on a monthly basis.

Drugs: Crime

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings of the evaluation of the Kent County Lines pilot project undertaken by JH Consulting.

Victoria Atkins: The evaluation of St Giles Trust’s County Lines pilot project in Kent highlighted the important role of non-statutory partners in supporting those involved in county lines, and in particular, the importance of a consistent trusted adult in a young person’s life.The Serious Violence Strategy sets out the Government’s response to violent crime, including county lines and places a new emphasis on early intervention including the Early Intervention Youth Fund (EIYF). On 10 November the Home Secretary announced that the EIYF will provide £17.7m over two years and which will support 29 projects endorsed by Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales, a number of which specifically work with children and young people at risk of criminal exploitation and county lines.The Trusted Relationship Fund is also another important initiative helping to foster relationships between frontline professionals and young people at risk of exploitation including county lines.

Children: Advocacy

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding the support provided by the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates service to all unaccompanied and separated children.

Victoria Atkins: Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTAs) support children who have potentially been trafficked. Section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which makes provisions for ICTAs, is being examined by the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act led by Frank Field, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Maria Miller.The aim of the review is to report on the operation and effectiveness of, and potential improvements to, provisions in the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which provides the legal framework for tackling modern slavery. A link to the terms of reference can be found https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-slavery-act-2015-independent-review-terms-of-reference/review-of-the-modern-slavery-act-2015-terms-of-reference The Government will consider carefully any recommendations about ICTAs which come out of the review.

Human Trafficking: Children

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals were made to the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates service in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018 to date in each of the early adopter sites (i) Wales, (ii) Hampshire and (iii) Greater Manchester; and how many of those children went missing during those periods for each of those areas.

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many referrals were made to the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates service in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018 to date for looked after children in each of the early adopter sites (i) Wales, (ii) Hampshire and (iii) Greater Manchester; and how many of those looked after children went missing from care in each of those areas in those periods.

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of children who will benefit from individual support through the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates service by country of origin in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.

Victoria Atkins: An interim assessment of the first year of the Independent Child Trafficking Advocate (ICTA) service (February 2017 – January 2018) and associated data tables were published in July 2018 and can be found:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-assessment-of-independent-child-trafficking-advocates-interim-findingsData on referrals split by early adopter site is published in Table A1, and on children who went missing in C1. The data are not broken down to show if a child is looked after. Data on referrals between February 2018 and Janu-ary 2019 will be published in a final report in Spring 2019.In July, the Government announced that it would roll out the ICTA service to one third of local authorities by April 2019. Following the expansion of the service, around one third of all children that we estimate will be referred into the NRM will be eligible to access the ICTA service in England and Wales. This estimate has not been broken down by country of origin.

Educational Testing Service

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration of 4 September 2018, Official Report column 52WH, how many of the 22,6924 people with TOEIC test certificates whose results were found by ETS to be questionable subsequently (a) resat a test and (b) attended an interview.

Caroline Nokes: The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.Further details based on locally held management information (including numbers on opportunities to sit a further test and invites to interview) have previously been provided to the Home Affairs Select Committee. This information continues to be available on their website.

Educational Testing Service

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration of 4 September 2018, Official Report column 52WH, what steps were taken against those people out of the 22,694 with TOEIC certificates whose results were found by ETS to be questionable who did not subsequently (a) resit a test and (b) attend an interview.

Caroline Nokes: No action to refuse leave on the grounds of a questionable certificate should have been taken against anybody without first giving them the opportunity to resit their test with another provider or attend an interview with a Home Office official.Whilst ETS notified the Home Office of 22,694 questionable UK test certificates, the actual number where it was relevant to require a fresh test and an interview with a Home Office official will have been much smaller.

Police: Mental Health

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department made implications for his policies of the report entitled, Policing and Mental Health, published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services in November 2018.

Mr Nick Hurd: The report confirms the Government’s repeated view that the police should not be left, by default, to care for those who have committed no offence but who need professional healthcare, and its determination to enhance mental health services to ensure that those in crisis receive such appropriate care.The Government has amended legislation to ban the use of police stations as places of safety for under 18 year-olds, and significantly reduce their use in the case of adults, and invested some £30m in increasing the capacity of health and community based places of safety. NHS England is committing to investing up to a further £250m a year by 2023-24 into new crisis services.Home Office Ministers are leading work with health and po-licing partners to continue to identify and reduce unreasonable mental health pressures on the police.

Asylum

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people (a) aged 18 and over and (b) aged under 18 successfully applied for asylum in each year since 2015.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office publishes data, in its quarterly Immigration Statistics re-lease, on (a) number of people granted asylum in the UK (table as_2_q Asy-lum, volume 2), and (b) number of people under the age of 18 granted asylum in the UK (table as_2_q_c Asylum, volume 2)Latest edition available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/758195/asylum2-sep-2018-tables.ods

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish guidance on registering under the EU Settlement Scheme for EU nationals who do not have identification or residency documentation due to being in the UK in a situation of trafficking and who have chosen not to enter the National Referral Mechanism and therefore do not have a positive conclusive grounds decision relating to their trafficked status.

Caroline Nokes: As set out in the Statement of Intent published on 21 June 2018, the EU Settlement Scheme will adopt a flexible approach to evidence of both identity and residenceWhen the scheme is rolled out fully by 30 March 2019 the Home Office will accept alternative evidence of identity and nationality where it accepts that the applicant is unable to obtain or produce the required document due to circumstances beyond their control or due to compelling practical or compassionate reasons. We will publish caseworker guidance on this in due course and will consult representatives of vulnerable groups.The published caseworker guidance includes a broad range of evidence that caseworkers can accept to establish the applicant’s claimed period of residence in the UK. Victims of trafficking who have chosen not to enter the National Referral Mechanism will be able to choose from this (or other) evidence to prove their residence, or (if they have been working or claiming benefits) will be able to do so via our automated data matching with HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2018 to Question 185054, what estimate he has made of the number of EU victims of modern slavery within the UK who have been found under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to have been forced to commit a criminal act by their traffickers; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of exempting those victims from the EU public policy and security tests for deportation.

Caroline Nokes: The Government does not hold information centrally on the number of EU victims of modern slavery who have been found to have been forced to commit criminal acts by their traffickers.The decision to deport under the EU public policy or security tests must be based exclusively on the personal conduct of the individual concerned, which must present a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests in society. It must take into account proportionality considerations, including how long the person has resided in the UK, their age, state of health, family and economic circumstances, social and cultural integration, and the extent of their links with the country of origin.Victims of trafficking and modern slavery who have committed crimes either in the UK or overseas are not exempt from this assessment. We are not planning to reassess the EU deportation framework nor to disapply the test to victims of modern slavery. The proportionality assessment referred to above enables the circumstances of the crime to be taken into account.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of EU victims of modern slavery in the UK with a (a) positive conclusive grounds decision or (b) reasonable grounds decision under the National Referral Mechanism; and what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of waiving the EU Settlement Scheme registration fee for people with those decisions.

Victoria Atkins: The National Crime Agency (NCA) is responsible for publishing National Referral Mechanism (NRM) data and does so on a quarterly basis. Published data on the referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is available via the following link:http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. The 2017 Annual Report of NRM statistics includes data on the outcomes of NRM decisions by nationality.I am content that our approach to fees is reasonable, proportionate and fair to all EU citizens. However, I will keep the approach on fees under review. More broadly, we are also considering how the EU Settlement Scheme can take into account the specific circumstances of victims of modern slavery and how to support the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) service providers to link victims up with the Scheme while they are in NRM support.

Immigrants: Children

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many times his Department has refused discretionary leave to remain where the child has not lived continuously in the UK for at least seven years but who has then reached that period after appeal in the last (a) 12 months, (b) three years and (c) five years.

Caroline Nokes: The relevant data is not recorded in a reportable form. To answer the question would require individual scrutiny of each refused Outside the Rules/Family/Private Life based application and subsequent appeal. This would incur disproportionate cost to the public purse.

Cabinet Office

Prime Minister: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for theCabinet Office, how much has been spent from the public purse on promoting social media posts relating to the UK leaving the EU on (a) the @10DowningStreet Twitter account and (b) other online platforms for which her office is responsible in the last three months; and if she will place details of the content of those posts in the Library.

Chloe Smith: Over the last three months (20 August - 20 November), the Prime Minister’s Office has spent the following on paid social media posts related to the UK’s exit from the EU: Total spend 20 August - 20 November: £52,509.84 This spend covers content outlining the UK’s future economic partnership with the EU and the withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU. Total annual government communications spend is circa £300m. This activity represents 0.017% of total spend for the year.

Prosperity Fund: Environment Protection

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect on the environment of the (a) official development assistance and (b) non-official development assistance (i) components and (ii) programmes of the Prosperity Fund .

Mr David Lidington: Both ODA and non-ODA financed programmes will be subject to independent and objective evaluation of their impacts, both direct and indirect. These evaluations will take place when programmes and their components have moved into implementation and are starting to produce results. Where appropriate, these evaluations will consider environmental impacts; programme maturity has not yet reached the stage where evaluation is appropriate.

Sustainable Development

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prosperity Fund: Annual Report 2017-18, what measures the Government uses to assess the contribution of that fund to the delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (a) 5, (b) 7, (c) 8 and (d) 9 in each country to which the fund is allocated.

Mr David Lidington: All programmes are designed to support Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 & SDG 8, while SDG 7 and SDG 9 will apply to a subset of programmes operating in those sectors. The “Monitoring, Reporting, Evaluation & Learning” section of the Prosperity Fund: Annual Report 2017-18 (pg14) outlines portfolio indicators, which will help measure Fund impacts, and often relate directly to SDG ambitions. The Fund has contracted a specialist consortium to provide independent and objective evaluation of how well programmes are contributing to their stated outcomes, impacts, and relevant SDG.

Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prosperity Fund: Annual Report 2017-18, what steps he is taking to help Departments achieve a rating of good from the International Aid Transparency Initiative.

Mr David Lidington: The Prosperity Fund is committed to meeting the government target of ‘good’ on the International Aid Transparency Index by 2020. The Fund is working closely with DFID policy and Transparency teams, benefiting from their experience and expertise and the International Aid Transparency Initiative to ensure it meets standards for transparency. The Fund has already begun working towards this target; working with departments, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to publish programme information and financial data on gov.uk. It will continue to work with departments to increase the amount of information published on spend and programmes as it becomes available.

Prosperity Fund

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will establish a standard evaluation by which Departments publish their progress on the delivery of programmes funded by the Prosperity Fund.

Mr David Lidington: The cross-government Joint Funds Unit, as part of the governance processes within the Prosperity Fund, require programmes to submit financial and impact information on a regular basis, including formal annual reviews. These formal requirements have standardised formats that departments and programme teams follow. Departments will publish these annual reviews once complete, in line with government transparency commitments. The first set of programme annual reviews should be published within the next quarter. As part of the evaluation service, interim programme evaluations will be conducted, which will feed into annual reviews. Independent evaluators will conduct these evaluations, quality assured through DFIDs ‘Equals’ process. Final evaluation reports will be published.

Cabinet Office: Official Hospitality

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full-time equivalent staff (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) Number 10 Downing Street employ whose responsibilities include the (i) photography and filming of official events and (ii) production of official photographs and films.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the combined annual salaries of all full-time equivalent staff of (a) the Cabinet Office and (b) Number 10 Downing Street whose responsibilities include (i) the photography and filming of official events and (ii) the production of official photographs and films in 2017-18.

Chloe Smith: There are two members of staff who are responsible for photography and filming of official events. Their combined salary is £71,921. They work in a team shared by No10 and the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office and No 10 digital team have 5 staff members where part of their role is the production of films and photography .This type of work accounts for less than 20% of each individual's role.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will establish a public inquiry (a) to examine matters relating to campaigning and foreign influence in the EU referendum campaign that are not currently being examined by the police, the National Crime Agency or the Information Commissioner; (b) to consider the consequences of potentially irregular and unlawful conduct during the EU referendum campaign; and (c) to make recommendations for appropriate action.

Chloe Smith: There are no plans to establish a Public Inquiry on the conduct of the EU referendum. The EU referendum was carried out based on legislation passed by Parliament and almost three quarters of the electorate took part. The EU referendum provisions were carefully scrutinised and ratified by Parliament. In line with the precedent for referendums, there was a six week period in which the formal result and administration of the EU Referendum could be challenged by judicial review. We treat the integrity and security of our democratic processes extremely seriously. If offences are alleged, it is right that they are investigated thoroughly by the appropriate agencies. That is what is happening at the moment and those agencies and investigations are independent of government.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of EU nationals who will migrate to the UK in each of the next 10 years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
(PDF Document, 66.71 KB)

Cabinet Office: Edinburgh

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much money has been spent from the public purse on office accommodation for staff that will be relocated to HMG New Waverley in each of the last five years.

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, from which departmental budgets the cost of constructing UK Government offices at New Waverley is being allocated; and how much money has been allocated to that project in each month since its commencement.

Oliver Dowden: The amount spent by HMRC in each of the last five years on office accommodation for staff who will be relocating to its Edinburgh Regional Centre, which is currently being constructed at 1 Sibbald Walk, Edinburgh is as follows:  2018-19, £13 million2017-18, £12 million2016-17, £13 million2015-16, £13 million2014-15, £14 million HMRC has signed an agreement for lease for 1 Sibbald Walk, Edinburgh, which will become its Edinburgh Regional Centre and it has so far spent around £0.5 million from HMRC’s budget.Construction is under way and it is the responsibility of the developer to deliver the building to an agreed specification, which HMRC will then lease. HMRC will occupy 90 per cent of the building and will commence payments during 2019-20 in accordance with the terms of the lease.HMRC’s move to regional centres will save around £300 million up to 2025. It will deliver annual cash savings of £74 million in 2025-26, rising to around £90 million from 2028, while modernising how HMRC work and helping to improve customer service.

Government Departments: Scotland

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) location and (b) lease expiry dates of Government offices in Scotland that are used by  Departmental staff.

Oliver Dowden: The location information for all the Civil Estate, including Scotland, is published online at data.gov.uk as part of Government transparency commitments. Details of Government property to let or for sale can be found via the Government Property Finder website. The Government does not publish lease expiry dates for Government offices used by Departmental staff due to the commercially sensitive nature of this information.

Rendition and Torture: Inquiries

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November to Question 190850, and with reference to the Written Statement of 22 November 2018, HCWS 1100 with its accompanying response to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report, whether the Government plans to hold an independent, judge-led inquiry into UK involvement in torture and rendition.

Mr David Lidington: Further to the Prime Minister’s Written Statement of 22 November (HCWS1100), the Government continues to give serious consideration to the examination of detainee issues and whether any more lessons can be learned and, if so, how.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Iceland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to seek to increase trade with Iceland.

Graham Stuart: As we leave the EU, the UK remains committed to our deep relationships with our EEA EFTA partners, Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein. We are seeking to put in place new arrangements to maintain our relationship with these states and continue to have an open dialogue with them about how this can best be achieved. Following the Secretary of State’s meeting with the Icelandic Foreign Minister in October, DIT continues to promote the closest trading links with Iceland recognising that total trade amounted to over £1.8bn in 2017, an increase of just over 18% on 2016.

Department for International Trade: Staff

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many Departmental staff are working on trade policy; and what estimate he has made of the number of Departmental staff that will work on new international trade deals in 2019-20.

George Hollingbery: Holding answer received on 03 December 2018



The Department for International Trade was created in July 2016. Since the Department was created its Trade Policy Group has grown to around 470 people at the end of October 2018, bringing together trade policy, country specialists and experts on trade policy issues. A number of DIT staff in offshore posts are also undertaking work on market access trade policy issues. The precise number of staff working on new free trade deals in 2019/2020 is yet to be decided. Typically a trade negotiation will involve teams of differing sizes, depending on their complexity and would be staffed by the Department for International Trade (DIT) with the involvement of expertise from other Departments. Other DIT staff at HQ and in overseas posts will also be involved in supporting the negotiators and for instance, handling relations with Parliament and external stakeholders.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia until an independent international inquiry can establish culpability for violations of international humanitarian law on all sides of the Yemeni conflict.

Graham Stuart: The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria provides a thorough risk assessment framework for considering all applications to export military goods to Saudi Arabia. We will not grant a licence if do so would be inconsistent with these Criteria. The policy remains as announced to Parliament in a Written Ministerial Statement on 25 March 2014:https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140325/wmstext/140325m0001.htm#14032566000018 and updated with an additional policy, as announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 13 September 2018:https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-13/HCWS957/ .

Mercosur

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent discussions he has held with his counterparts in Mercosur on future trade agreements with those countries after the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery: Whilst an EU member state we have strongly supported EU-Mercosur trade negotiations. It is essential to maintain momentum with these discussions and we hope to see political agreement as soon as possible. In March 2018, my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade co-chaired the tenth UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee with the Brazilian Minister for Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, Marcos Jorge de Lima. The Ministers reiterated their commitment to facilitating increased trade, creating opportunities and enhancing bilateral economic relations. Furthermore, the Secretary of State met with his Argentinian counterparts while at the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting in September 2018.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Addictions

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people who have a gambling addiction.

Mims Davies: We published the Review of Gambling Machines and Social Responsibility Measures in May 2018. This set out decisive action to protect those vulnerable to harm by cutting the maximum stake on B2 machine from £100 to £2, along with measures to strengthen protections around online gambling and gambling advertising. These include action by the Gambling Commission to improve age-verification controls online and introduce tougher sanctions for breaches of advertising codes. A multi-million pound safer gambling advertising campaign will launch this year, aimed at raising awareness of the risks around gambling and signposting to help. The Review also set out action on treatment and support for those who experience harm, including initiatives to improve the evidence on treatment needs and effectiveness, expand access to existing services and strengthen the voluntary system for funding support.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many people have participated in the National Citizen Service in each local authority area in each of the last three years.

Mims Davies: See attached the National Citizen Service participation figures by Region and Local Authority for 2015, 2016 and 2017. We do not yet have consolidated data on 2018 participation figures, as the programme is still ongoing in some areas.



Participation by Region and LA 2015-17
(PDF Document, 89.95 KB)

Mass Media

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits for the Government's policies of the recommendations made by the Isle of Man Tynwald Select Committee on Public Service Media in their November 2018 report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to respond to the Isle of Man Tynwald Select Committee on Public Service Media's November 2018 report; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for the independence of the media of the recommendations of the Isle of Man Tynwald Select Committee on Public Service Media's November 2018 report .

Margot James: The Isle of Man Tynwald Select Committee on Public Service Media provided recommendations to the High Court of Tynwald. Responding to the recommendations is a matter for the Isle of Man Government. The UK government will engage with the Isle of Man Government on these issues where appropriate.

Public Service Broadcasting

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions has he had with Ofcom on ensuring that public service broadcasters retain a prominent position in electronic programming guides.

Margot James: The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has regular meetings with Ofcom as part of normal government business. The Government recognises the value and importance of high quality public service content and the need for this to be widely accessible to viewers. That is why under the Digital Economy Act 2017, the government required Ofcom to publish a report which looks at the ease of finding PSB content across all platforms. Ofcom’s consultation on proposed changes to the linear EPG Code and the future of the prominence regime closed in October and the government looks forward to the publication of its findings.

5G

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for (a) Defence and (b) the Home Department on the implications for UK security of Huawei's involvement in the development of 5G technology.

Margot James: DCMS and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) actively manage the potential risks to the UK telecoms industry, and security is part of the 5G Testbeds and Trials programme. Furthermore, DCMS is leading a cross-government review into the supply chain arrangements for the UK’s telecoms infrastructure. The terms of reference are available here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/telecoms-supply-chain-review-terms-of-reference). The Review will consider the full UK market position, including the resilience and security standards of equipment for 5G.

Northern Ireland Office

Brexit: Republic of Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the representatives of the Government of the Irish Republic on the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Karen Bradley: I have regular discussions with the Irish Government, concerning a range of issues including the UK’s exit from the EU. The Government does not want or expect a no deal scenario. We firmly believe it is in the interests of both the EU and the UK to strike a deal, and we remain confident we will agree a mutually advantageous deal with the EU.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Members

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will provide the evidential basis for her statement to the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee on 21 November 2018 that between 1 January 2017 and 31 October 2018 £8,504,716 was spent on salaries for Members of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland in the absence of a functioning Assembly; and if he will make a statement.

John Penrose: The budget for the payment of salaries to MLAs, along with the associated financial figures, is held by the Assembly Commission which is the corporate body of the NI Assembly. The Commission confirmed that between 1 January 2017 and 31 October 2018, £8,504,716 has been paid in salaries to Members of the Legislative Assembly.